Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps Mr. McColgan will respond on some of the points I mentioned. I thank Ms Donaghey and Mr. Boyle for their contributions. I would like to acknowledge the work they have done through Donegal County Council. Ms Donaghey is a long-time member of ERNACT and has been very proactive in this area. I congratulate Ms Kennedy on her recent election to Donegal County Council and commend Mr. Diver on his work in ERNACT.

The problem here is getting a grip on what is required. Technology is moving along and developments are happening in the larger urban centres. We hear periodic announcements from the Government on what it says it will deliver to rural areas, but not much is happening outside of what is being driven by companies. Will Mr. McColgan respond to us in regard to the scope of ERNACT and the counties it covers? Will he explain what the €25 million invested in the north-west corridor went into? Does ERNACT have a role, or will it have a role, in regard to roaming? Mention was made in previous contributions of countries that are providing 3G wireless from fixed-line addresses and paying farmers for it. This sounds like a simple but exciting idea. In many rural areas, even good mobile reception is still a problem. Therefore, this idea sounds as though it could be pushed and could be of value.

Mr. Boyle mentioned the announcement made a few months ago regarding delivering broadband to rural areas. What do we know about that, and what exactly is happening? Will he elaborate on what he is aware is happening in that regard? In terms of the north west, nobody knows more about how we can deliver broadband and the current position than the witnesses. If they cannot explain this or are unclear on what is proposed, there is an issue. The difficulty relates to what is happening at national level and to the substance behind the announcements that have been made.

Where do we need to go from here? What needs to happen to drive this forward and make it happen? It seems to me that using poles is the way to go rather than burying the fibre cables. In Sweden, the fibre cables are being buried, but we already have the electricity poles, so this seems the way to go. What needs to happen in terms of getting the ESB on board? Could schemes be developed in local areas or could co-ops put together self-sustaining and self-financing projects which could see investment in ESB poles in areas which would pay back over time? Do we need to develop models such as this? I like the ERNACT perspective on that landscape and on what needs to happen.