Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The focus of programme A is to support economic growth, jobs, competitiveness and social inclusion through a range of policies and regulations designed to facilitate a more digitally connected society. This includes promoting timely investment in next generation broadband networks, the use of digital technologies by citizens and businesses and support for digital entrepreneurship. The Estimates for programme A include an initial funding of €10 million for the national broadband plan to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to all parts of Ireland through a combination of commercial investment and State intervention. In this regard, approximately €2 billion has been spent by commercial operators over the past four years. The programme also includes the State-owned metropolitan area networks, which play an important role in driving competition in the regions and facilitating telecommunications operators, large and small, in providing high-speed broadband services without having to build out their own networks.

Programme A supports Ireland's national digital strategy, which aims to realise the full benefit of a digitally enabled society through measures such as the trading online voucher scheme, the school digital champion programme and the BenefIT 4 programme, which are all aimed at encouraging citizens, businesses and communities to engage with the Internet. I would like the assistance of members of the committee in their constituencies to promote the value of the trading online voucher scheme. We have analysed the 2,000 vouchers that have been issued to date. About 800 businesses were surveyed. Those businesses have increased sales by one fifth and employment by a third. Two thirds of them are now trading internationally. I actively encourage businesses with fewer than ten employees to contact their local enterprise office to avail themselves of support. There is a 50:50 grant of up to €2,500 available per business to allow them to start trading online. Interestingly, about 50% of those who apply for it do not draw down the grant because a training programme is tied in to it. A lot of businesses have found the training programme extremely useful in maximising their existing online presence. I encourage any business that is not trading online at the moment to do so, because there is potential to maintain existing employment, increase sales and potentially grow market share.

Programme A also promotes digital entrepreneurship in Ireland through the National Digital Research Centre and the Digital Hub Development Agency. The 2016 Estimates include €750,000 operational funding for the National Cyber Security Centre for the protection of critical infrastructure and Government networks. Finally, on the communications Vote, I ask the committee if it could at the first available opportunity facilitate a presentation from the chairman designate of An Post, Dermot Divilly. I know he is anxious to come before the committee. It was scheduled to take place last February under the chairmanship of the previous committee. I would appreciate if that could be facilitated as soon as possible.

On the telecommunications impact of Brexit, the real issue is roaming. However, roaming charges in the EU and the EEA are to be abolished by 2017. We do not see any difficulty from a roaming perspective unless the existing directives are specifically replaced. I do not see the benefit in replacing those directives from either our or a European Union perspective. We do not foresee any issues arising on communications at present. The cyber security NIS directive is a work in progress. It is timetabled for transposition in 2018. We expect discussions will continue on that with member states, including the UK. From that perspective we do not see an issue. The more detailed issues will come up in some of the other aspects of the Vote that we will deal with later.