Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mobile phone coverage is very poor. It is patchy. The coverage is diminishing at an alarming rate in places that had coverage previously. It is not a good sign when some industrialist arrives in Farranfore Airport and goes a mile out any of the three roads from the airport only to find he or she has no mobile coverage. That is not acceptable. It is denying us the prospect of bringing business into the county.

I welcome the interest and commitment of the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten. He has promised that all areas and homes will be connected in the next three to five years. I am depending on the Minister to ensure, whoever the providers will be, that there will be no cherry-picking and that all rural areas, including places such as the Black Valley between Kenmare and Beaufort, and Glenmore in Lauragh, or any other secluded or remote area, will get the same service as the populated areas. I ask the Minister to ensure that he, or whoever will be Minister in the future, will be in full control and will keep these providers under their thumb.

Broadband is a necessity to attract business and investment into rural and western seaboard counties. Kerry is one of these. As we are starved for jobs at present, this lack of such infrastructure is depriving the county of many industries.

Every person should be entitled to this infrastructure as of right. It is not a luxury. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin put down amendments to the Minister's proposals, and I am worried about this as it could cause further delay. The people do not mind who the provider is, whether private or in State control, as along as they get a service. They are entitled to that.

Deputy Dooley remarked that it seems the Minister is a ram in the Dáil and a lamb at Cabinet. In my parish of Kilgarvan, there was a lady who used to feed a few sheep, rams and lambs for her elderly father, and she used come in and say, "Father, I am away more in dread of the lamb than I am of the ram". Deputy Dooley should be wary of the lamb and the ram.

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