Mr. Mark Griffin:

The amount of parliamentary questions which the Department receives on a daily basis in regard to the difficulties being experienced by businesses in obtaining a decent connection in local areas indicates the frustration which businesses outside the areas being targeted by the commercial companies are experiencing. A number of months ago I watched a programme - I think it was "Ear to the Ground" - which highlighted the case of a small company in the food sector and the difficulties it was experiencing, because it was outside an NGA area, in doing the most basic things in terms of broadband connectivity. One of the driving forces behind the introduction of the national broadband plan was why it was acceptable that people who live in urban areas have access to high speed broadband. In my case, I can have Sky, UPC or Eircom broadband. Some of the other larger towns that will be provided with broadband under the UPC-Vodafone joint venture will also have that choice. However, in areas outside of the county towns it is only possible to get 1 Mbps to 1.5 Mbps of broadband, which is simply not fit for purpose.

In terms of the work under way in regard to the preparation of the intervention strategy, PricewaterhouseCoopers is currently examining the cost-benefit analysis. In terms of additional benefits for residences, business and public services in the intervention area that we will be bringing forward, PricewaterhouseCoopers has identified remote working options, transaction sales, bundle communications and high tech farming aids as issues that need to be addressed. By definition, there is a huge-----