Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There is general agreement with regard to what is happening. The Government received €335 million from the sale of its shareholding in Aer Lingus. In the normal course of events - and in the absence of EUROSTAT rules - that money could go into Government coffers and be used for expenditure purposes. Although EUROSTAT rules do not allow this, the Government can put it into another fund and reuse it for investment. This is probably a way around EUROSTAT rules to get the money back into the economy. I have no issue with this. It is common sense that the funds should be used for productive investment purposes and not current expenditure. We agree with what is happening.

the Minister of State indicated that although at the end of September the fund had committed €1.8 billion, only €900 million had been drawn down. Many commitments have been made but the money has not been drawn down. I hope the fund will not sit in the top drawer under the heading "committed but not drawn down".

I am pleased that the Minister of State is interpreting "connectivity" in its broadest sense, namely, that it is not just a matter for transport and airports but includes broadband and related issues. We all welcome this. Will the Minister of State consider asking the ISIF to include mobile phone connectivity? The mobile phone signal is still inadequate. There are many hills and mountains in the Minister of State’s constituency. I cannot get a mobile phone signal in my constituency office or village. While we are all caught up in the broadband debate, we need to take a step back and ensure there is adequate mobile coverage in the country. I ask for it to be included in the remit of this investment.