James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and for his engagement on the previous day also. He is very on the ball on this issue and his geography is spot-on today so there are no issues in that regard. Rather than repeat what was said in the debate last week I will focus on a different aspect today. The national broadband plan is under way, which is great, and we want it to happen as quickly and effectively as possible, but is there merit in also looking at measures to complement that and to make it easier for private or public providers to get in alongside that to allow for greater coverage penetration? In the previous Dáil I introduced the broadband planning framework Bill to enable that. It was working its way through the Houses before the Dáil was dissolved. The type of things it sought to do included planning synchronisation across different planning authorities; a register of assets that would be maintained by the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg; a central depository where kit and infrastructure would be re-used if it is already in place; mandating site sharing so if there is already a mast or a duct on a particular hillside or road it would be re-used rather than reinventing the wheel; and ducting to the door, which may be of interest to the Minister, in that a change in the planning mandate that ducting be provided to the door be part of that new build planning framework.

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