Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The reasons for the delay are obvious. Initially, the private sector did not invest. The dotcom collapse at the turn of the decade meant that there was little investment from the private sector. The Government decided in 2002 that it needed to stimulate the market. The private sector would respond that it is in the business of making money and should not be expected to provide broadband where it is not economic to do so. The Government addressed this through the group broadband scheme. The take-up of this was good in some areas but the scheme was not available in other areas.

The Deputy referred to the role of the regulator. He did everything in his power to make progress on number portability, local loop unbundling and other matters. He was thwarted at every attempt through the courts. Unofficially, I have heard that many of the difficulties with local loop unbundling are being addressed. If other difficulties arise, the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill will grant the regulator additional powers to deal with them. The Deputy has been supportive of the Bill.

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