Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

To answer Deputy Coveney, we are engaged in a competitive dialogue process in respect of the national broadband scheme and must be careful about interfering in it while companies look to determine the best position. The Government would seek an evolving system so that access speeds can improve in line with speeds elsewhere in the country. This will be difficult in rural areas because of the nature of economics, in that it is more difficult to serve a rural isolated area with a small number of houses compared to a housing estate or large apartment block in a city centre. There is no getting away from the fundamental economic difference. A benefit of our demography will be the development of new innovative access solutions to suit our topography and to be a part of a flexible and ubiquitous open access network.

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