Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

The time has come for the State to actively pursue the issue of broadband services. I listen to the Government proclaim how our economy has changed and how we must position ourselves for the future. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment often speaks of our future as a knowledge economy and one of our larger exports is software.

If this is the case and we wish to position ourselves internationally in this manner, it is of critical importance that the Government addresses the issues outlined in this Fine Gael motion. The large international corporations we hope to attract will not wait a number of years for the private sector to provide what is essentially a vital piece of public infrastructure.

Historically, the State has intervened and actively promoted projects of national strategic importance. In the 1920s our first Government worked with Siemens of Germany to construct the hydroelectric power generating station at Ardnacrusha in my constituency. At the time this idea was laughed at and it was thought that Ardnacrusha would provide too much electricity. Today, Ardnacrusha provides less than 2% of the national grid's requirements. The rural electrification scheme is often referred to as the "quiet revolution" in that it brought about major change to this country.

The point about both of these projects is that the Governments involved were innovative, visionary and committed enough to see through and be actively involved in projects which were of enormous benefit to the State. In contrast to this, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in response to a parliamentary question I put down last July stated the role of Government is to implement regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of high-quality telecommunications services by competing private sector service providers in a fully liberalised market.

The Minister washed his hands in this reply. This bridesmaid-type role is not good enough and will never allow us progress to the standards to which we aspire. This motion calls on the Government to take a more active hands-on role. The motion seeks clear political commitment to the provision of broadband services, allowing our economy to develop and prosper in the future.

E-Teams is a company based in Scariff in east Clare. This small town has a population of 800. E-Teams provides a worldwide translation service, and provided official translation services during both the Irish and UK Presidencies of the Council of the European Union. The issue of quality broadband is critical for this company and access to a group broadband scheme has enabled it to employ 27 people. Unfortunately, if one lives in the countryside that surrounds Scariff one does not have access to broadband and one cannot work from home.

The potential for the development of our economy with regard to access to broadband is threefold, through large international corporations, small and medium enterprises such as E-Teams, and the possibility for the individual of working from home.

I welcome the progress made on the metropolitan area network in Kilrush but it is frustratingly slow. The infrastructure is now in the ground but the scheme is still not operational even though it was announced in 2004. The exclusion of Ennis and Shannon from the metropolitan area network programme is astonishing. It is incredible that these two towns were never included in the initial 88 towns announced in 2004. Ennis is supposed to be the information age town but large areas around Ennis do not have broadband and broadband speeds vary significantly throughout the town.

While I welcome the establishment of a number of group broadband schemes in County Clare the significant variance in cost and speed must be pointed out. Participants on the Kilfenora scheme pay up to €36 per month whereas in Corofin, less than 10 miles away, they pay €15 per month. Vast areas throughout County Clare have no broadband and little chance of getting it. If the Government is serious about broadband and this country's future then it must at the very least set clear targets on average speeds, availability and penetration rates. These targets must be achieved within set timeframes. The Minister must move beyond his regulatory and facilitative role and for this reason I support the motion.

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