Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is fine for the officials to come here and paint a lovely picture, but there is a different reality on the ground and they need to get real. It is scandalous to come out of with some of the stuff they have come out with when every one of us has raised this. This is not just an issue in one part of the country. Why is it that in some areas of the country people cannot talk on their phones in their houses today, when they could five years ago?

The municipal area I come from has 500 km of road, which is one quarter of the area. The officials said they had tested 5,000 km. They should go down back roads and byroads to see what is going in different parts of the country. When I drive along the N4 past Leixlip, by the time I reach the toll bridge, I cannot hear what anyone is saying to me on the phone. Why is that not being sorted? There is no signal past Kinnegad and there is no coverage on back roads. The officials need to get real about the picture they are trying to paint. They are not accountable to people who have mobile phone accounts and who are not getting what they are paying for. A person came to me about this. He had been talking to service providers who said that once they go outside Dublin, it is not attractive commercially to give the same coverage down the country. ComReg needs to get up to speed about what is going on.