Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but when one looks at the map, what one is going to find is that the hill areas are the places with the worst service geographically. Unfortunately, if I understand it correctly, Dr. O'Connor’s group cannot do anything about it because this was a mistake made by the Government in giving licences to mobile communications providers. In other words, they had to cover a percentage of the population and not a percentage of the territory. That means if one goes into the Wicklow hills, there is no mobile service in plenty of valleys. When one goes into the mountains in the west, as I do, there is no mobile, no broadband, nothing. There are a few landlines in some of the valleys.

Did the task force look at the possibility of providing State-owned infrastructure that would then be leased to companies in more inaccessible places? In my discussions with companies, they are very reluctant to put up mobile masts in the more difficult valley and hill areas. There are two reasons to do it. The obvious reason is that people are living in these places, but we also know that there has been an explosion in rural recreation and hillwalking. We need to have the availability of a mobile signal in as many places as possible. Many a person who has got lost on a hill has been saved by his or her mobile phone where there was a service, but if there is no service there is no rescue. What is being done about the issue?

One can have all the task forces in the world but that does not help the people living in those areas with no service. The issues raised are all valid and laudable but they do not address the fundamental point that compared with some other countries we have much lower coverage because of a Government decision. I understand the 5G licence will be given on the same population basis rather than on an area basis. Has the task force made a recommendation to the Government that the law should be changed so that ComReg would be directed by this House to cover by area not by population in any issuing of further licences?