Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

Broadband service improvements are essential for Ireland's economic future and are being neglected. Yesterday's report from the European Competitive Telecommunications Association put Ireland 12th out of 15 European countries in the provision of broadband. Ireland lags behind other countries in broadband penetration. The number of people who have it is still exceptionally low. Even countries as vast as Australia perform better than us; we are 30th out of 34 countries in the OECD broadband per household report.

One key issue from an enterprise development perspective is the limited range and speed of broadband services available and their comparatively higher cost. For example, an Irish business would pay over €2,000 per annum for a six megabits per second package, while in Germany, a company would pay approximately €500 for treble that speed.

Recently in Golden, County Tipperary, I undertook a petition for the provision of quality reliable broadband in the area. Within three days over 200 people in this small village signed it. Such experience could be resonated in every village throughout the country. In Cashel, County Tipperary, a television programme took approximately one minute to download using broadband in my office. On dial-up in Golden, four miles away, the same programme took 27 minutes. This is the reality of the sketchy broadband services available.

In response to a recent parliamentary question on making Tipperary town a Wi-Fi hot-spot, the Minister replied that external private companies were dealing with broadband and he would welcome any developments. Why is the Government letting it all happen as if there were no problem?

The Government needs to incentivise improvements in the supply, speed and reliability of broadband services. It must make installation of telecommunications ducting on all national road upgrades mandatory, an idea put forward by Forfás. The contract terms of the national broadband scheme must be revised to stipulate higher speeds than current ones and spend the money allocated to the scheme.

The Government has wasted public finances on projects such as PPARs. Broadband has not been taken seriously and no amount of press releases and statements by the Minister will change this fact. Broadband is essential. People want it; Ireland wants it. I heard the Minister talking about this on these benches some months ago. However, he has allowed the situation to continue without improvement and, in fact, it has become worse.

See this speech in context