James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am curious as to which of the two are as láthair if 29 of the 31 are in place. Which two local authorities do not have them? This is of interest. The Minister mentioned that she has the list and I would be obliged if she would furnish it to me. I am particularly interested in the names, contact details and the local authority in each case. I welcome the fact 29 have been appointed and perhaps the Minister will forward the list to me after the debate. I am sure colleagues on all sides would avail of it also.

I agree that this step is needed. We have identified that much of the difficulty in broadband roll-out has been the lack of consistency across local authority areas. County council A is looking for development levies and implementing development plans in a particular way, county council B is doing it another way and county council C is doing it a different way. All of these counties intersect at a particular junction, so a broadband operator or mobile phone operator is trying to put in masts and telecoms infrastructure with three different codes pertaining to just one small area. We all know where county boundaries and constituencies intertwine it is very difficult. It is very much needed and I welcome the progress. I would like to get a copy of the list afterwards. Perhaps the Minister will clarify which two are not in place just yet.

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