Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

If Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan does not mind, I would like to also respond to what was said earlier by the Ceann Comhairle during a debate on a Topical Issue matter because the case he made is proper and important. We represent our constituents and at this moment in crisis, when people are dependent on these services, for them not to be able to get a response from the companies providing the services is a real issue of concern. Whatever about my comments and those of other Members, the fact that they came from the Ceann Comhairle in the middle of our debate is something I will bring to the attention of ComReg and Eir. This deserves real attention from the company and the regulator.

That said, the challenge that we all recognise is that we need to accelerate this during Covid. Deputy O’Sullivan mentioned the family situation and I can see this in my own home, where there are six of us on various devices, and if anyone cannot get broadband, he or she is cut off. There is a particular challenge in rural areas, where there may often be a distance from the nearest connection, and it is a question of how that is rolled out. It was originally set to be a seven-year project and we are looking to see can we accelerate and shorten that. The vast majority of houses will be delivered in the early years and it will only be the very difficult to reach houses that are being put back to that later date. The incentive for the company now is that the demand is so great, and I hope we can accelerate this project to the best of our ability.

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