Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the fact that the Minister is to introduce an ICT strategy from 2007; it is crucial that we have one. I have been critical of the fact that we did not have one since the end of 2002. Both the Minister and I have read the report and can therefore choose different sets of statistics. Arising from the report of the National Council for Technology in Education, I am concerned that 10,000 computers in primary schools are in need of upgrade or repair and 5,000 are beyond repair or use. Therefore, one in four computers in primary schools does not work, while one in five does not work at second level. Some 29% of primary school computers are more than six years old and the Minister will know how quickly computers are evolving.

I welcome the fact that 96% of schools now have broadband access. However, the broadband connections are already going out of date. It is difficult to deal with, but higher speed access is always required to meet the rapid changes in technology. The type of broadband available in many of our schools does not have the capacity to download certain files from the Internet and to access certain websites.

How does the Minister intend to deal with those problems? How will she ensure that all computer hardware in primary schools is functioning? Does the Minister have any intention of providing a service to allow equipment to be upgraded? Providing maintenance locally would probably be the better idea, but what type of maintenance does she propose to ensure school computers are usable and neither sitting in boxes nor beyond use?

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