Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Brendan Smith's point about businesses being obliged to travel into the local town, it is absolutely soul-destroying to see that happening in this day and age. That is not something that I want to see continuing. That is why the Government and I are determined to ensure we unlock as much commercial investment as possible, first through the broadband task force, in the form of wireless deployment or any other type of telecommunications deployment. This is intended to ensure the particular practice referred to does not continue. People should at least have a basic broadband service in order that they can use email. They should not be in a situation where they have to travel into the local town to do that.

Second, with the way technology is changing, many of those businesses now are using the cloud to provide services, including accountancy or back-office services. One way to drive efficiency in many of those businesses is to have back-office services based in the cloud. They can only do that if they have access to decent high-speed broadband. It is hugely frustrating to see what is going on at present. That is why I am committed, along with the Government and, in fairness, every colleague in the House, to ensuring that we can deliver this infrastructure and deliver it as quickly as possible to every single premises, business, farm and home.

See this speech in context