Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is not an area in which I am particularly expert but we all accept the interconnectivity between broadband availability and employment generation. Three things arise for me: price, speed and availability. These are matters of major concern, as has already been highlighted by Deputy Ó Snodaigh. Can the Minister of State give us an indication of how the plan announced by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, in 2012 differs substantially from the previous metropolitan area networks, MANs, programme or does it differ significantly from it? Is the Minister of State optimistic that the type of roll-out of e-fibre we need to see in the coming months and years will take place expeditiously? Is the Minister of State satisfied that the agencies that should be involved and that should be in the foreground of assisting the Government, us and the commercial agencies in this process, including local authorities, for example, are not putting impediments in the way of the fast roll-out of e-fibre throughout the country?

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