Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank the Chairman and congratulate her on her selection as Chair of this committee. I congratulate and welcome each of the members of the committee. This is the first committee of this Dáil and some members are old hands, such as Deputies Eamon Ryan and Timmy Dooley, but I particularly welcome Deputy Bríd Smith on her first time in a select committee. I look forward to working with all the members. As I said to my officials shortly after my appointment, I would like this Department to be a facilitating Department, facilitating change that is necessary across society and Government. Key to that is the national broadband plan which will bring about radical change the likes of which we have not seen since rural electrification. Climate action will also drive change across society and in every community across this country, particularly in the public sector, at least in the short term.

At the moment the Department is officially the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and we will retain all those functions except for responsibility for the delivery of the Kerr report on the post offices and the renewal of our post office network. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, will take over responsibility for the roll-out of the national broadband plan subsequent to the signing of the contract in the middle of next year. We have already transferred officials from the Department on secondment to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to assist with the project. The Minister's role in broadband is to ensure that once the contracts are signed, the contractors will not have any impediments in physically rolling out the infrastructure. She will remove bottlenecks and deal with access to wayleaves, as well as ducting, permissions and authorisations. She will see to it that an individual is responsible in each of the local authorities and will also determine what communities should be given priority in the roll-out of the plan. She will look at whether 1,500 primary schools should get priority or whether community centres or businesses should get it, all the time ensuring this does not inhibit the speedy roll-out of broadband. She will engage with local authorities and with communities through the Leader programmes.

The new title of the Department will be the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The climate action section will incorporate the existing functions of the energy division within my Department and the environment functions within the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government will transfer to my Department.