Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I am sorry I do not have much time now. I would be delighted to talk to the Minister further some other time but not just now, in the Chamber.

I have concerns about the Minister's approach in setting up a consultative body. It is very easy to set up bodies in order to delay decisions being made. We now have an international advisory forum. One does not get the sense that this is a "can-do" Minister, who understands that the window of opportunity is narrow, that it is a very competitive climate in which he is operating and that he must focus and get the job done in ways indicated to him by the Fine Gael motion.

We are very far off the goals set out by Forfás. We are still wrestling with the deficiencies of this generation's networks. Despite the pressing need, I recall that the Minister cheerfully hijacked €10 million out of the broadband budget and spent it on insulation and wood pellets, saying that the money would not get spent anyway. Why would it not get spent? That is the question. Surely when the need is so great, there should not have been any money left over in the kitty at the end of the year.

The Minister cannot be unaware of the current problems, difficulties and deficiencies. I represent a mixed, but largely rural, constituency and am receiving a steady little stream of complaints about either lack of access or poor quality service when access is achieved. One of the most heartfelt complaints came from the village of Shillelagh, where there is a Cheshire Home for people with disabilities. I quote from correspondence I received:

The internet connection is a life line, not only for leisure, but for work. Most times the internet connection just cuts off for no apparent reason. It is frustrating to see so much advertising for broadband services but when you ring them it is like hitting a brick wall. The service is not always there to acquire.

I presumed this problem was a rural one until I met a woman from Finglas who told me that broadband basically closes down at 6 p.m. because the system becomes overloaded when people come home from work.

There is an issue in terms of people being simply unable to get access at all. In that context, I welcome the national broadband scheme which should provide for those people who are currently completely out of the loop. However, the scheme is based on the Department's coverage map. According to that map, areas marked in red have broadband connection, but that is not always the case. Anecdotal evidence from around the country of people being unable to access broadband services, even in these red areas, is very real and quite considerable. That is also evident in the parliamentary questions that are being asked of the Minister. Deputy Simon Coveney pinpointed the reason this information is not being reflected by the Department because it is asking the companies rather than the customers. The Minister's answer is always the same, namely, that the provision of broadband services is primarily a matter for the private sector, that broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, and that those parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision will be addressed by the national broadband scheme.

What constitutes quality broadband varies wildly across the country. As to the promised national broadband scheme, I take it it will be set at 1 megabit. However, this represents a fraction of the speeds available elsewhere and a project Eircom is trying in Dublin is far ahead of it.

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