Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Provision of broadband services in Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom roll-out, which began considerably earlier than our own. As the Deputy mentioned, there is now 100% availability in the North. However, the figures for uptake of broadband technology there are no better than those for the Republic. It may be the case that one can bring the horse to water but one cannot make it drink.

The rate of broadband uptake in the Republic has accelerated in the last 18 months and there is no part of the country in which it is not available. I agree with the Deputy, however, that the cost is prohibitive in some rural areas. The initiatives we have undertaken to ensure broadband is rolled out, including the MANs programme, the broadband for schools programme and the county and group broadband scheme, are well known to the Deputy. The response to these efforts by the Government to ensure the rapid spread of broadband throughout the country has been positive.

It is good that a number of reports have highlighted the necessity to continue efforts to make broadband available. Many of these reports, however, including that issued by Forfás and other international reports, would benefit from more precise measurement techniques because they do not always compare like with like. While our basic provision of broadband is one megabyte, some of the other European countries with which we are compared provide less than half that bandwidth for broadband.

In regard to the Deputy's final question, I reiterate that I have powers in this respect. My predecessor used those to issue directions to ComReg on competition and costs. That is kept under constant review. The other area where I can be helpful and proactive is in bringing forward legislation — as I will during the first half of this year — that will give extra powers to ComReg.

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