Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On broadband, a procurement process is under way for the national broadband plan. In the meantime, I want to ensure that once the plan has been agreed and signed off, every county will be broadband ready. I will work with local authorities on this matter. I will meet representatives of the County and City Managers Association, CCMA, shortly when I will ask that every county produce a broadband plan. This will mean counties will know precisely what they need to do regarding way leave rights and development levies. A number of issues need to be addressed in this regard.

We must also educate people on the benefits of broadband because many people do not realise how important and useful it is. Every county will be asked to report to a regional action group on what it is doing. This is being done to ensure counties do not have obstacles in place that would prevent the roll-out of the national broadband plan. We will also ask commercial suppliers to improve the services they are providing. One possibility is to have business clusters. I am aware of cases where two businesses located within one mile of each other are each paying large sums to different broadband providers. Perhaps businesses could come together to form a critical mass which would allow them to negotiate better with commercial providers. We can do some work on this.

We also intend to pursue community hubs to enable communities to secure high-speed broadband. I will be pleased to listen to any suggestions Deputies may have on this issue.

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Denis Naughten, and I will co-chair a mobile coverage and broadband task force which will identify solutions to improve mobile reception.