Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would see a number of issues as priorities in the highly unlikely event that I would ever sit in the Minister's seat. The priority on the communications side has to be broadband. We have a two-tier society in relation to broadband. People in some places can get broadband but people in other places cannot. The new broadcasting charge is a huge issue for the independent radio networks, which will celebrate 25 years in existence this year and have done exceptional work. It is high time for us to look at their funding in the context of the funding of the State broadcaster, with which I would have many issues. As I said during our discussion on a previous question, it is high time we changed the memorandum of understanding in relation to the post office network. The cost of energy to consumers and business users also has to be prioritised. On natural resources, the fracking issue has to be dealt with because there are huge fears among people in this regard. It is time we made our inland fisheries a priority because it is a huge resource that is totally under-utilised. A large part of our tourism industry could be built on it. These matters should be priorities

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