Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and to have these extra hours. What was allowed last night on the Private Members motion, which I know was limited to two hours, could not do justice to the amount of concern that people in the House have about broadband. It is a fundamental issue for all of Ireland at this stage. It is a fundamental issue for the development of our island as a whole and to ensure we have proper development. We talk about regional development, developing the regions and ensuring the population is dispersed throughout the island, and we have all kinds of grandiose notions about it. This is a fundamental issue.

I have spoken to colleagues who have travelled quite extensively throughout the world, to parts of Peru, Chile, Brazil and Argentina and even the remote islands off the coast of Brazil. In small towns where there might not even be running water, in every hostel there was Wi-Fi and Internet access. It was the same in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. We look at ourselves as a first world country and there is also a lot of talk about booming economies and expanding populations, but we are in the dark with regard to high-speed broadband. Many people tell us they cannot continue their business. An agriculture consultant has told me it takes up to an hour to send an email. That is not sustainable where the person is living. It is not sustainable for that person to work from home. We are not empowering experts in their fields such as agricultural consultants who are highly trained and educated and articulate in how they deliver their services.

A Deputy from Clare was scoring some point with Deputy Dooley on this issue. The reality is that broadband has failed our communities. I was a Member of the previous Dáil as the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on communications. I was here in December 2013 when Pat Rabbitte sat in front of us and just before the local elections in 2014 there was a massive announcement that broadband would be delivered. We almost thought broadband would be delivered before we went to bed that night. Alex White took over as Minister, and in every debate and every five or six weeks at Question Time we were told the Government was waiting for state aid or EU approval, that the tender documents were ready and all the paperwork had been done on the Irish side but the Government was waiting for all kinds of dates. If we check the Dáil record it was suggested that this would be done in the middle of 2015 and then the end of 2015. It was all about dates as to when we would have a programme in place for places such as Kiskeam and Banteer and other places throughout my constituency that do not have access to high-speed broadband.

Young people doing their homework at every level on the education spectrum do not have access to broadband. It absolutely makes sure they are second-class citizens. We have seen the Eir programme being delivered and we have seen places in Banteer in particular where there are six or seven houses where the services are being cut. We have tried everything to get it extended. We have seen it in Kiskeam where there are almost 20 houses at the cut-off point, and it cannot or will not be extended. High-speed broadband is not being delivered to these communities.

There is a massive social divide. Commentators have been looking at it as a rural-urban divide but it is not. There are places 15 miles from O'Connell Street having serious difficulty with getting broadband.

People have spoken about the telecoms industry and telephones in the 1970s and early 1980s and the ESB in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s when electricity was brought to every corner of the country, whether one was in the remotest part or the most thickly populated part. This is a fundamental issue for us. I spoke about 2013. That is five years ago. We are no nearer to getting universal access to broadband than we were five years ago. People will say there are a range of plans, agendas and documents, but I do not believe we are getting anywhere near universal broadband.

If we could help our citizens get universal access to broadband, whether they are living in remote parts of Cork North-West, urban centres or whatever, it would help enable us to have balanced regional development.

Companies at the cutting edge of technology are generating massive amounts of products, such as pumps and so on, and are exporting them to Scotland, the rest of the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. They have subsidiary offices in Dublin. They are paying €800 a month for a broadband service in north Cork and €50 a month for a broadband service in Dublin. That is simply not sustainable. The sooner we stand up and admit that this plan is not working and that we should go back to brass tacks, the better.

Many people spoke about the Eircom poles. There is one basic piece of infrastructure this country still holds, that is, the ESB networks. Every single corner of the country has proper electricity poles and they have been checked and maintained thoroughly. The Vodafone-ESB joint venture in 2012 or 2014 was spoken about. At the time I was shown the fibre-optic cable that would be put on those lines to deliver broadband services. That infrastructure is in place.

I genuinely believe that the State will have to move in, and that a new semi-State company should be formulated to deliver this plan. We have all kinds of agendas, legal advice and so on but the basic point is that either we are concerned about delivering regional development and providing a broadband service, which is as important for today's farmer, housewife, children going to school and everyone else, or we are not. There are very few people who are not bringing some of their work home to do in the evening or who try to get information late at night on whatever services they are working on. The most basic need we could meet for them is to give them access to broadband services. Otherwise, we are disenfranchising people and making them second-class citizens.

There was fine talk in the debate last night and we had the argy-bargy because Fianna Fáil put down this motion and challenged that there should be a review. God forbid that the world would fall in because we were going to have a review of what has now failed. We should stand up and say that we are not delivering broadband, the process has failed us so we should now look at how best we can avoid another five years of talk about it because five years have already passed.

Deputy Rabbitte spoke earlier about getting basic mobile phone coverage. In some parts of the country, there is not basic mobile phone coverage. Technology has developed greatly in 20 years but the same pockets of the country that were without mobile phone coverage 20 years ago are without mobile phone coverage today. What did the representatives of the telecommunications industry and the telecoms regulator say when they came before the committee three or four years ago? They said there was more data now on phones and it is more difficult to pick up a signal. If someone had the most basic phone 20 years ago and they were not able to get a signal in parts of north Cork, the same basic phone would not get the signal today. That is not advancing our case.

We have to be realistic. We are facing a massive challenge. We can have all the public relations and fine talk about this issue but we are at a juncture. In early 2018 we are commemorating many great achievements but I believe we will be judged on how we deliver broadband to enable every one of our citizens to continue their work and live their lives whether it is in north west Cork, Dublin, Meath or any other part of the country. We are totally disadvantaged in that regard. In terms of this debate, we will be looking for more time because all of us have more to say on the issue. We should start from scratch and admit that this process is a complete and absolute failure.

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