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

I think we should wait until we see what ComReg comes up with. This is a fairly complex assessment for a variety of reasons. Now that ComReg has the agreement of the industry to undertake this pilot project, we will all be much wiser when that data is available. The data is anecdotal. I receive letters on this matter from Deputies and from people in every part of the country. It will be very interesting to see what technical professional analysis throws up in this regard. Undoubtedly the frustration referred to by colleagues exists in parts of the country.
Like the Chairman I read the newspaper article. The writer knows what he is talking about. I am not known to frequently say that but in this case it is true. He knows what he is writing about and obviously it is a knowledge that was not passed on to the headline writer who is incorrect in writing that this broadband service will not improve online experience in rural areas. Of course it will unimaginably improve the online experience - as the Chairman said - in those rural areas fortunate enough to get it. That is a simple matter of fact.
As Deputy Moynihan said, the question is whether we can expand in phase 2. It is important to recall that this is a new competitor in the market; it does not mean that the players already in the market are not themselves continuing to make progress every day. For example, notwithstanding the experience of the company in recent times, Eircom has committed and recommitted to a programme of investment that will see a fibre solution passing 1.4 million homes by mid-2016. That promises to be a very significant contribution.
Deputy Coffey is correct that this Bill does not attach a public service obligation to the joint venture company. As he said, it will be a commercial venture bringing more competition and it will improve the online experience. If we could bring the Irish Independent around to having the headlines imitating the copy, it would cause less disquiet in rural Ireland but it might mean selling fewer papers. There is no doubt that the online service will be improved immensely. Taken together with the progress being made by other commercial operators, it will be a very significant improvement.

We are over mid-way in the mapping exercise for implementation of the broadband plan which is being done with the assistance and co-operation of the industry. It is a requirement of the European Commission that we furnish a detailed mapping exercise in terms of where we are seeking authority to allow the State intervene in terms of the services in rural Ireland. We are monitoring the existing plans of the industry as they stand and we are working together on the production of this map. Unfortunately, it takes time but there is no way around that because we will not pass muster in Europe unless we can demonstrate that the mapping exercise stands up.