Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will complete the picture. Following the completion of a mapping exercise this time last year, I published an interactive map that allows any citizen or public representative to go online and see what areas of the country are to be covered by the private sector and what areas require State intervention. Areas in the latter category are depicted in an amber colour on the map, which can be seen on the website I mentioned earlier. The map allows people to see all the areas in respect of which the private sector has made a commitment to deliver broadband. The other area that can be seen on the map, the so-called amber area, is the 96% of the land mass where State intervention will have to take place.

This is a perfect example of where it is necessary for the State to have an enduring role. We have had a great deal of debate about the role of the State in a modern economy. It seems to me that if the commercial sector will not deliver the infrastructure that people need, the State must intervene to deliver it. I can give the Deputy an absolute assurance that this is what we are doing.

4 o’clock

When I got this job last July, I looked at the various priorities within the Department and this was the most important one for me. Hardly a day goes by that I am not involved in the planning and delivery of this project. Very senior and dedicated civil servants are working with me on it and it will be delivered. It will require continuity in terms of a commitment from the next Government. This is a very important infrastructural imperative for the people of Ireland and the economy. It will require continuity, no matter who is in this position, whether it is me, Deputy Ó Caoláin or someone else. That is extremely important.

The Deputy asked what guarantees I can give. I mentioned the implementation strategy earlier. Future proofing the provision of high speed broadband is one of the issues we have integrated into our planning. We want to ensure, whether it is fibre or some other technology, that we will not have to go back to it in five or ten years time. It will be future proofed in the sense that we want to do it once and do it right. That is what I keep saying, that we will do this project properly and do it in a way that is future proofed.

While I do not have the exact figures in front of me, there is significant interest in the European Commission and in other countries in what we are doing here. The private sector, in fairness to it, has driven much of this work. We have driven the private sector and it is driving development. We have SIRO, we had the legislation relating to the ESB and Vodafone, and Eircom, now Eir, has invested a lot in this area. Working in parallel with what the private sector is doing, we will deliver this and ensure that we get it over the line. Whether it is me or someone else, this has to be done not just for the Deputy's constituents, but for all of the people of Ireland, particularly those in rural Ireland who should not be excluded from the benefits that broadband brings in terms of business, education, interaction with public services, arts, culture and the myriad other services that improve peoples' quality of life and help them to do business.

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