Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Minister's constituency office is as inundated as is mine with people who are concerned about the issue. I am sure it is but I do not intend to offer such a solution to anybody. I refer in particular to families where children come home at the weekend from college or with secondary schoolchildren. I do not want to say that they should toddle off to the community centre to find a hotspot to do their homework, assignments and projects. We know that when people are on holidays, they drop in to the local McDonald's to get access to high-speed broadband. That is fine for a holiday environment but many people in the 542,000 cohort require broadband to live their lives, do their studies, apply for jobs and in the case of farmers to return information to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We must address the issue. The sooner the Minister sets out dates the better as it will force others to meet the deadlines. That is his job and it is the challenge of the companies to adhere to them.

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