Ms Annemarie Harte:

Perhaps I can comment on the e-commerce side. It is a chicken and egg situation if we do not have broadband. I am disappointed but somehow I am delighted that Rush has not got it because it means it is not exclusive to Dublin. I cannot whinge that it is all rural areas. I would not consider Rush a rural area.

It is coming down the line like a juggernaut. According to the research and statistics coming from the US, one is looking at one's home improvement online and not just via a website or looking at it on a mobile phone. It is a multi-application process. Evidence from the US shows behaviour will start to change. People are researching and then move into purchasing. The latest statistics from the UK show that after what one would expect to be the big purchases online - music, videos, books and electricals, homeware and DIY is the fourth biggest sector. It is a growing sector and, as Ms Graham said, there has been a great deal of change in recent years in the traditional business and how it has diversified. The next step is to get much more bullish in the e-commerce market. UK companies will come here and some are already in the market, and they will put will put the indigenous industry at a severe disadvantage if we do not have broadband up and running throughout Ireland. It will hit the businesses in the towns and the villages throughout the country much harder than perhaps it will the sustainable businesses in the Dublin area.