Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know that. When I was in Boston recently, I was told it is the most modern city in the world. It has big problems such as unemployment and traffic congestion, just like Dublin does. When one travels a mile outside Boston, there is no broadband. The mayor told me that it is a big issue. It is a big issue all over the world. Up to 71% of rural Ireland is now going to have broadband. A scheme that is supposed to get up and running in the coming months will continue the process of getting as much of rural Ireland as possible covered by broadband. The Deputy is quite correct when he says we need infrastructure like broadband to be rolled out. We are trying to roll it out. To be honest, I would have said myself that it is not happening. I live in a place that does not have broadband. I will have it in a month's time, not because I am there but simply because it is in the plan and covered by the map. It annoys me that in places where I do not live, the people who came down the roads did one side of the road because it was covered by the map. They could have done the other side of the road as well if they were allowed to do so, but they were not. At least it is happening. I see it on the ground every single day. People have been connected to broadband every minute we have spent talking in here. As I have said, when I was in Boston, the biggest issue was that there is no broadband when one travels a mile outside the city.