Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The national broadband plan to deliver high speed broadband to every corner of the country is very welcome. However, like all ambitious plans, it comes at a price. Longford-Westmeath is my priority. The previous Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, rightly said that an ambitious programme to provide high quality, reliable and high speed broadband is a necessity for the 21st century and society. Nobody would disagree with this assertion but, unfortunately, the broadband issue has almost become a toxic one in rural Ireland and in communities such as my own which have heard about the national broadband schemes but they have never materialised.

As the Minister of State knows, the broadband deficit is huge in rural areas. In my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, for example, there are many areas which have no broadband or patchy broadband at best. We seem to have an increasing urban-rural divide when it comes to available broadband speeds. Some rural areas have no broadband while some urban areas enjoy state-of-the-art broadband speeds. There is no question but that the midlands region can benefit hugely from improved broadband infrastructure and I hope this national broadband plan can provide a basis for regional economic growth and job creation in the midlands and across the country. Good broadband can level the playing field for small businesses and it is an essential piece of business infrastructure but, sadly, there is a deficit in many areas.

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