Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The headline of the Southern Starlast week stated "Our poor broadband will deter re-locators". That is the situation we have experienced in west Cork. I did my best to steer away from the national broadband plan in my initial question as I do not want this to be the rock on which the Taoiseach will perish, like his predecessors.

A few short months ago, the former Minister, Deputy Bruton, agreed to allow ComReg to give extra capacity to broadband and mobile phone companies to increase capacity in rural communities due to the increased numbers of people working at home because of Covid-19. As far as I am aware, not one community in west Cork has had increased capacity.

Who is monitoring ComReg? Is it a law unto itself? At a conservative estimate, some 100,000 customers nationally are serviced by fixed wireless operators, which get no recognition from the State for what they do. With Government support these numbers could double or treble. The national scheme is spending €5,000 per household to ensure services are available. Small communities have no broadband and little chance of getting it for years, if ever.

It is not financially viable to build infrastructure for them. If 20 houses in a village are without broadband, the NBP will pay €100,000 to get these homes serviced whereas a fixed wireless provider could do it for a fraction of that figure and in a significantly better timeframe. The solutions offered by fixed wireless access operators are environmentally friendly. They do not build huge masts or run miles of cables across thousands of poles and they frequently use green technologies such as wind and solar.

Will the Taoiseach consider creating this type of solution for many homes with little or no broadband in west Cork?

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