Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the ESB (Electronic Communications Networks) Bill which is important legislation dealing with the networking of fibre optic cables that will I hope develop an area of infrastructure in which the country has lagged behind. Sinn Féin has already suggested the ESB network be used as a vehicle to carry the fibre optic network.

Broadband has become an almost essential utility for every household. Many daily functions are now almost impossible without a proper broadband connection. There are many areas, most of them rural, which still do not have an adequate broadband connection. The lack of broadband and poor service levels are increasingly becoming a constraint in accessing services. The range of services being delivered online is continually increasing. Common examples include online travel reservations and online banking, with the latter likely to accelerate with the closure of more bank branches in smaller towns. On the ground, service delivery in many rural areas is contracting, with many services further curtailed in the current economic environment, with the closure of banks, post offices and rural Garda stations. There is near universal acceptance that online access is the norm for some services and, accordingly, quality broadband is an imperative. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has outlined ambitious plans for e-government, including e-health. Access to high quality broadband will be an essential element in this regard.

Proper broadband access is essential in developing a healthy and vibrant economy. The Government must be to the forefront in pushing this agenda if it is serious about the economy recovering to its full potential. International research shows that the Internet contributes up to 6% of the GDP, gross domestic product, in advanced economies. Most of the economic value created occurs outside of the information technology sector, with 75% of the benefits captured by companies in more traditional industries. The research has also found that the Internet created 2.6 jobs for every one lost arising from technology-related efficiencies. The fear everyone had a few years ago was that technology would replace people’s jobs. The contrary appears to be happening, as technology-related efficiencies are resulting in the creation of more jobs. Greater efficiency in a business means that it can employ more people.

I am glad that the ESB will deliver a fibre-to-the-building network. This will allow for the highest speeds in a home, which shows that there is forward thinking in the development of the fibre network. Fibre is one of the optimum technologies, as it is regarded as the most future-proofed and is, therefore, likely to yield better value for State and private investment. At a wider economy level, the OECD has examined the benefits arising in other economic sectors such as transport, health, education and electricity from a national fibre-to-the-building network. The analysis examined the cost of deploying fibre to the building across different OECD countries, including Ireland. It estimated the combined savings in each of the four sectors over ten years could justify the cost of building a national fibre-to-the-building network. Investment designed to deliver next generation broadband should be based on technologies which are future-proofed in the longer term, not just aimed at meeting immediate targets to 2015 and 2020.

While the immediate target is to ensure what is outlined in the national broadband plan is reached, the infrastructure to be put in place should be designed to have benefits far beyond this. Proper investment will not just deliver targets in the short term but will also benefit the State and its people in the immediate and longer term.

Ireland performs badly in broadband connection when compared internationally. We have one of the lowest access levels to broadband in the European Union, which is hardly something that makes this the best small country in which to do business. This cannot be blamed solely on either our size or population density. While Ireland has a relatively low proportion of people living in urban areas when compared with the OECD average, its rate of 60% is broadly similar to that for Finland which has a rate of 60% and for Japan and Hungary which have rates of 65%. In addition, Ireland's population density, at 63 people per square kilometre, is higher than several other comparator countries such as Australia, Finland, the United States of America, Canada and Sweden which have densities of three, 16, 32, three and 21 people per square kilometre, respectively. All of these countries have fixed rates of broadband subscribers. In Australia 93% of premises will have access to fibre to the building that is capable of providing broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbps. Gaining the advantage of high speed broadband in connecting rural areas and delivering online education and health services is a key goal of that country's digital strategy.

The western and north-western region in Ireland which I represent has suffered significantly in respect of broadband access. This has put its inhabitants at a distinct disadvantage when compared with the more populated areas of the country. Government thinking is changing and must change to ensure those residing in rural areas have access to the services available to urban dwellers. The western region is predominantly rural, with almost 65% of its population now living outside towns with a population of 1,500 or more, compared with 38% nationally. More than half the national urban population live in cities, but there is only one city in the western region. Consequently, the share of its urban population living in a city is far lower, at approximately 27%. A larger share of the region's urban population live in small towns. In the western region 16.4% of the urban population live in small towns of between 1,500 and 2,000 people, while nationally, only 6% of the urban population live in such towns. It is clear, therefore, that any strategy rolled out must recognise the distinct population structures in the west and north west and the Government must adopt a policy that recognises this fact. In the western region e-learning is well established as a delivery mode; for example, IT Sligo and St. Angela's College, Sligo have pioneered its use nationally and internationally. Moreover, the Mayo Education Centre has been delivering online courses internationally for the past decade. However, online learning will be hampered in these and other institutions by inadequate upload and download broadband speeds.

The national broadband plan has outlined several targets that are to be reached in the delivery of broadband throughout the country, namely, 70 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps to more than half of the population by 2015, at least 40 Mbps and, in many cases, much faster speeds to at least a further 20% of the population and potentially as much as 35% around smaller towns and villages and a minimum of 30 Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country, no matter how rural or remote. These targets are laudatory, but one must recognise we cannot rely solely on private industry to deliver on all these targets. The Government must take the initiative in aiding with the extension of the broadband network in order that Ireland can truly have a world-class access service. State telecommunications assets are important in helping to bridge the gap between market provision of services and the need for additional State investment. Government policy, in ensuring access to next generation broadband throughout the country, should recognise the range of applications and industries that require next generation access, the ever increasing bandwidth requirements and the long-term value of investment in network infrastructure. These returns will include the wider economic benefits of better positioning in the global knowledge economy, job creation and enterprise development, all supported by quality, future-proofed broadband.

The issue of privatisation must be discussed in the context of this legislation. One of the primary reasons Ireland has such a poor level of broadband penetration heretofore is the privatisation of Telecom Éireann. This move was disastrous for Ireland's telecommunications network, resulting in a severe lack of investment in the area. Ireland is only now playing catch-up with other European countries and, by right, this legislation should have been brought forward in one way or another many years ago. The privatisation of Telecom Éireann and the establishment of Eircom were a disaster for the Irish telecommunications market and we need not go down this route once again. I suggest all fibre optic cables used by the ESB under this legislation remain in public ownership. It is surely the only way in which proper broadband access can be delivered to and assured for all regions of the country into the future and a provision to that effect should be included in the legislation.

Does the Minister know how much Government expenditure will be required before the roll-out of the fibre network on, for example, consultants' reports and other preparatory work? Second, how does he envisage the public sector element being secured in this regard, particularly in rural areas? How can Members ensure everyone in the country, including those in sparsely populated areas, will have the same standard of broadband access because we cannot have a two-speed Ireland? In common with Deputy Michael Moynihan, I believe all Members must give careful consideration to the issue of access to private lands and at least some additional access activity to maintain the network.

To summarise, Sinn Féin welcomes this legislation, wishes it a fair wind and will help the Minister in every way it can to see it established.

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