Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I am aware of the matters the Deputy raises. Parts of the country have poor broadband facilities. The Government initiated the MAN programme in 2002 and the group broadband scheme. It is now considering a new scheme to target 10%-15% of the country. Under its new management, Eircom has examined the matter and is willing to address some of the deficiencies.

There has been a massive increase in the number of subscribers to broadband, particularly in the past 12-18 months. In the past 12 months there has been an increase of 106% in take-up. In October 2004, I set a target of 400,000 broadband subscribers at the end of last year. The figure was exceeded in August 2006. At this stage, I expect that we have over 500,000 subscribers in Ireland. The percentage of households covered is over 11%, up from 3% at the start of 2005. The major increase in uptake is due to the greater availability, the demand side measures and the publicity given to the importance of broadband. We have not yet arrived, which is why we set up the national broadband scheme in conjunction with the private sector. We will announce tender details in the near future.

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