Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There has been a shift in the European policy approach to this issue, which is that the Commission is looking for a future-proofed system. Whereas it was previously technology-neutral, without specifying the type of network, European policy now essentially states that a fibre-based solution is required. Therefore, the answer to Deputy Kyne's question is that from the regular contacts the Department has had with the Commission about this issue, I am confident that approval will be forthcoming for the plan.

The Government approval for this tranche encompassing almost 1,100 villages about which Deputy Wallace asked is up to €512 million. I cannot be more precise than this, but that would be the cost of building out a new network. However, were one to leverage existing State properties, for example, it would deduct something from that figure, and the Government is of course working towards that end. The broadband task force I chaired myself was designed to remove obstacles and barriers that had traditionally existed and to encourage the leveraging of State assets that are in place, whether they are on State lands or whatever, which would mitigate that figure somewhat.

In addition, it is not acceptable that, notwithstanding the accelerating investment in urban Ireland, somewhere like Bushypark, which is less than three miles outside Galway city, has such a basic service. Therefore, considerable work and detail must go into the mapping exercise. It is painstaking, takes up a lot of time, is costing a lot of money and so on, but in conclusion, high-quality connectivity is absolutely essential for the future economic and social progress of this country, particularly the former. I was very pleased that last night, Counties Galway and Wexford were represented at an event organised by my Department at Google to announce the availability of the trading online voucher scheme to encourage more small to medium-size enterprises and microbusinesses to actually transact business online. Moreover, the local enterprise offices, LEOs, now are equipped to provide mentoring, other advice and backup to implement the scheme.

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