Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to support my colleague, Deputy Coveney, on this important motion. Some years ago — I believe it was in the context of planning for the digital hub — I heard the Taoiseach refer to his ambition to see Ireland become the e-commerce centre of the world. Even at the time, I considered his words to be hyperbole, although I admired them for showing vision and ambition. I have a sense that such ambition is absent and has been replaced by complacency, a slipping of concern and resignation that Ireland will remain not only second best, but will lag behind all those nations with which we must compete.

With regard to the availability, speed and quality of broadband, our position has dropped to a level reminiscent of that which pertained in respect of our telephone system in the 1970s. While the Minister is too young to remember those times, I vividly remember that one could not obtain a telephone unless one knew the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, which ruled out members of the Fine Gael Party. Sometimes, if one was particularly lucky, one would receive a present of a black telephone without a connection. Those days are gone. That was the old Ireland and we have moved on and become a much more open, rich country that makes a net contribution to the European Union. In this case, however, the EU will not intervene and save us and it is for the Government to do the work.

As the Minister is aware, I am a believer in the market. However, markets sometimes fail and Government intervention is required not to replace the private sector, but to facilitate, assist and regulate it and, in this case, to ensure infrastructure does not fall into the hands of a monopolist. It must intervene to force the pace of change in the roll-out of broadband access.

Last summer, the nation was in a frenzy about the loss of the Shannon to Heathrow route because we know the economic importance of connections to other parts of the world. Virtual connections are even more important, especially in the area of tourism, on which I am my party's spokesperson. The arrival of the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on the tourism industry. People browse the Internet to select holiday destinations, book flights and obtain information about their holiday.

Small businesses worldwide have been empowered by the Internet, which provides all businesses with a platform to compete on a global scale that they could not have imagined hitherto and to market themselves to every customer in every corner of the world. Unfortunately, Irish small and medium size enterprises cannot compete, especially in the tourism industry, if they do not have access to broadband or have poor capacity broadband. Relative to almost all our competitors, we are disadvantaged in trying to attract tourists. There is no point in Fáilte Ireland or Tourism Ireland spending millions of euro trying to attract tourists if our practitioners — service providers, hoteliers and tour operators — cannot close the deal. Tragically, broadband access is worst in the areas where dependence on tourism is greatest, namely, outside the capital and other cities. How can SMEs in the tourism sector, whether in Clare or the midlands, promote themselves with video-marketing tools which require high-speed capacity? How can they provide interactive booking opportunities or other applications to their customers when they do not even have a dial-up connection? How can we discuss providing a conference facility in the mid-west and seriously expect to attract high-end, high-tech and high-spending business tourists if they cannot access high-speed internet connections when they are here? They need video-conferencing to contact not only their own offices but also other offices in other parts of the world. This is a basic requirement of business people and if the Government is serious about boosting tourism and extending the tourism year by providing conference centres then high-speed broadband must come with it.

Apart from business tourists, almost everybody travelling for pleasure, family reasons or business brings their laptops with them and expects to be able to stay in touch with family and the workplace. We must be serious about tourism now that the building industry is in decline. The Minister must take on board the contents of this motion.

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