Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome and support the Bill.

Before I speak to the Bill, I should put it in the context of the legacy of the telecommunications that we have been left with in this country. One of the biggest mistakes was the selling of the Eircom infrastructure which, I suppose, became a considerable barrier to the development of quality broadband in this country. For that reason, we have been playing catch-up.

I commend the Minister and the Government for their recent initiatives and the strides they have made in extending quality broadband to schools right around the country. This Bill will be an additional step in the provision of digital infrastructure right across the country. Ireland is uniquely placed in the export of services right around the world in terms of engineering, technology and business support and there is no reason we cannot export this expertise over the Internet from every corner of Ireland.

The Bill is a progressive step which gives the ESB the capacity to reach its full potential in terms of delivering telecommunications infrastructure on the back of its existing distribution networks. ESB has always delivered infrastructure with full public confidence to the highest standard and to all parts of the country, both urban and rural. The ESB is recognised as having the expertise and the personnel to deliver essential infrastructure and no doubt it will continue to deliver it, including essential telecommunications infrastructure, to the regions. As Members have said, the regions must have access to quality broadband and digital infrastructure if they are to have equal access to job creation and development, and the Bill will certainly assist that process.

The ESB has available to it existing transmission networks which it already utilises for telecommunications and now the company plans to expand and use distribution lines which reach into every parish and community in the country. We cannot underestimate the significance of the Bill. Telecommunications technology allows telecommunications cables to be wrapped around the existing lines and this cuts the need for significant capital costs in terms of excavation, wayleaves and ducting across the country. The Bill could be a real game changer in terms of delivery of wholesale Internet to the regions. I am very excited about the news from the ESB on how it plans to invest in this technology with investment partners in rolling out broadband further to the country. This will enhance the telecommunications infrastructure that can link with existing digital hubs and the metropolitan area networks, MANs.

We already know about the Eircom investment announced last year, and all of that will feed into the national broadband plan. It will introduce healthy competition into the wholesale market for the provision of broadband. It will also increase access opportunities for the retail providers who are also investing in infrastructure in the country.

I draw the Minister's attention to the south-east region. As he knows, I come from Waterford and a recent economic strategy for Waterford city and county identified the lack of a dark fibre aurora high capacity broadband network in the south-east region, and that is also identified in a Forfás report. I have a map showing the existing network which goes from Dublin across the Midlands to Galway, down to Ennis, into Limerick and then down to Cork, but unfortunately that network does not reach into the south-east region. That is a big disadvantage to us. That is identified by Forfás. I hope the opportunity that this presents might interest the ESB and its investment partners so they can extend into those regions this type of network which will bring balance and the same opportunities for people and businesses in those regions and communities to access the quality network to which we all aspire.

I will be supporting this legislation. These are exciting times. The Minister will make up the ground that was lost through the sale of the Eircom infrastructure and that is where all the focus is, and I will him well in that regard.

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