Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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On one point, I welcome this imaginative use of the money from the minority stake. In European terms, connectivity has a definite and modern meaning, that is, a broadband connection. However, it would be a pity if this fund was to be constrained in its definition of connectivity. Where the commercial sector cannot provide a broadband service, the State must intervene, but DG Competition has required the State to map the country to show where the commercial sector is not able to provide a service. This has delayed everything by approximately 18 months, having been delayed by the recession before that. The result is that were it not for the joint venture between the ESB and Vodafone, which will provide industrial strength broadband in areas such those to which Deputy Sean Fleming referred and will narrow the onus on the State in its intervention, we would have been obliged to live with the situation in which one wing of the European Union states one must rush ahead and ramp up connectivity, while DG Competition insists one may not do so until one proves to it there are no state aid implications and so on. Rather than this money lying in a drawer until ideal plans or projects are brought forward, I urge the Minister of State to give consideration to its use within the wider meaning of connectivity. For example, the absence of broadband in primary schools is a major issue. I cannot quite recall what was the total expenditure to ensure every second level school in the country would have quality connectivity, but certainly it is an issue in primary schools and I do not believe it would be wildly expensive.

I urge the Minister of State to give consideration to the issue of connectivity. There is no golden rule which states that because the proceeds came from a transport asset, they should be restricted to transport assets. Had that been done in the disposal of the energy dimension of Bord Gáis Energy, one would have restricted the money to energy projects. As Deputy Sean Fleming has noted, there is no golden rule and a broader definition of connectivity could be helpful in terms of the economic dimension of connectivity in this other meaning.