Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The Galway-Mayo ducting and cables telecommunications network is a vital piece of State infrastructure located in an area of strategic importance for transatlantic traffic and with the potential to provide significantly improved broadband services in an area of the country underserved by broadband. It is built and is already in use to a limited extent to provide vital transatlantic connectivity for a multinational company. It is poised to meet its full potential and the Bill before the House is the key to the fulfilment of that ambition.

The Bill before the House today has three principal objectives. The first is to provide for, and ensure, that the ownership of the ducting and cables and ancillary equipment vest in the Minister. The second is to give rights of access to private lands through which the ducting and cables pass. Both of those objectives ensure that the persons managing the network, the managed service entity, MSE, will be able to fully maintain and operate the network. The third is to minimise impacts to landowners along the route of the ducting and cables and to provide compensation and safeguards to those landowners arising from the use of their land. I propose to address each of those objectives in turn.

On the first objective, the ducting and cables are currently being used by way of an interim arrangement with Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, acting as the network manager. As part of that interim arrangement it was necessary to provide GNI with certain rights to use the network, including temporary ownership of the cable and ancillary equipment. Section 2 provides that the ownership of the ducting and cables and ancillary equipment will vest in the Minister on the coming into operation of that section. This will eliminate the potential for any legal doubt in that regard and any possible delay in the bringing into full operation of the network.

The second objective is to provide rights of access to all lands through which the Galway-Mayo ducting passes. In 2005 during the planning of the Galway-Mayo gas pipeline by Bord Gáis Éireann, BGÉ, now GNI, my Department funded the installation of underground telecommunications ducting alongside the pipeline. The pipeline and ducting were installed between Ballymoneen in County Galway and the gas terminal constructed in Bellanaboy, County Mayo. Construction took place between 2006 and 2008. In 2013, Shell E&P Ireland Limited, SEPIL, proposed to install fibre optic cable into the duct and to gift that to the State. This process concludes in quarter 1 of 2018. The ducting and cables traverse approximately 500 separate interests in land. GNI managed the ducting build and managed access to private lands for that purpose and also for the laying of the optical fibre cable. GNI acquired access rights over the majority of the private lands but not all. While the network is built, it cannot be fully managed, maintained or upgraded without securing access rights to all lands along the full route of the ducting and cables.

Section 3 of the Bill is the section that provides the Minister, and consequently the MSE, with the necessary rights to enter lands for the purposes of running the Galway-Mayo ducting and cables network. These access rights are described in Schedules 1 and 2 and are limited to those which are necessary to properly manage the ducting and cables network for telecommunications purposes. They are subject also to the obligations contained in Schedule 3. The access rights acquired by GNI on my behalf stand vested in me by virtue of section 3(2) while access to all other lands along and adjacent to the route are granted to me under section 3(3). Gas Network Ireland's rights stand protected by section 3(4) which ensures that GNI's other access rights over the lands such as access to the gas pipeline are unaffected and also section 3(5) which releases GNI from any obligations entered into regarding the access rights acquired by GNI on behalf of the Minister under subsection (2).

Turning now to the matter of protecting landowner interests, sections 4 and 5 provide compensation and safeguards to landowners and ensure that any impacts arising from the presence and operation of the network are minimised. Section 4 provides for a claim for compensation by landowners in respect of any diminution in the value of their land arising as a consequence of the Minister's right of access to the land to tend to the ducting and cables. It provides all landowners along the route with the right to claim compensation on the same terms while also taking account of any moneys already paid as compensation by Gas Networks Ireland.

Section 5 is broader in scope. It provides for a compensation scheme to be established in law to reimburse owners or repair damages caused by the MSE or others working on my behalf. This scheme also provides for landowners to be compensated for any such damages or any injury, loss or disturbance suffered by the owner and caused by the MSE or others in the performance of their duties. This scheme or any amended schemes will continue to operate for the entire lifetime of the ducting and cables. Section 5 also provides for regulations which set out the rules to be followed by the MSE and others working on my behalf in order to ensure minimal disruption to landowners and so that they are given adequate notice when works are planned.

Other safeguards also exist. Section 8 requires that a map of the route be deposited in my offices and made available for inspection by all interested parties. Section 9 ensures that information is given to all landowners and interested parties at least 28 days before enactment and including details of the legislation, the deposited map and how and where to make claims for compensation under section 4. Section 10 details the procedures to ensure that all notices are delivered to the intended parties.

The Galway-Mayo region acts as a landing point for transatlantic cables. Through this Bill there is an opportunity to promote the growth of transatlantic data traffic and, more locally, to ensure that the Irish public, Irish industry and multinational organisations can access dark fibre and ultra-high speed broadband services in the west of Ireland. I am preparing to tender for an MSE to operate and manage the State owned Galway-Mayo telecommunications ducting and cables network via concession agreement. The Bill before the House is the missing piece in the jigsaw that will enable that tender to progress. Its enactment will ensure that the MSE will be able to gain the necessary access to the ducting and cables infrastructure to fully maximise the benefits of the network. Consequently, I commend this Bill to the House.

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