Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There have been ongoing discussions between senior officials in both Departments. I think there has been a meeting of minds on the capacity of the technology in terms of the teaching environment.

The Deputy is correct on the need to optimise the use of broadband technology when high speed broadband is available to every second level school in the country. One cannot relax in the belief that it will happen automatically in all cases. There is constant contact between the two Departments because as I explained to Deputy Dooley, it is not just the installation of the system, but we entered into an arrangement with the Department of Education and Skills to bear the running costs of high speed broadband for the first year . The Department of Education and Skills takes over in the following years.