Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking the opportunity and the time to listen to us. Cobh is an area in east Cork I represent and I have worked with many lobby groups and activists down there over the years. There seems to be a problem. From the emails I have, one specific question resonates most in terms of what people are feeling throughout Cork East, particularly Cobh:

Please ask the Minister and the Government Department if it is the Government's policy to allow private enterprise decide whether families should have or not have superfast broadband based on their commercial criteria rather than on a Government strategy.

I put this to the Minister of State because of the potential in Cobh for businesses and broadband. In the current climate we are asking people to stay at home and work from home. From the old NET factory in Cobh along the front coast to White Point, which overlooks Roche's Point on the far side of the county, they have, I think, between five and 30 Mbps, which is below the European norm. In the other parts of the town, enterprises are cherry-picking the estates, which seems to be replicated in Cobh, Carrigtohill, Mitchelstown, Fermoy, the Mallow hinterland and anywhere else in the county. It is frustrating people and pitting neighbours against neighbours because some estates have very good broadband. When one goes in to try to promote businesses, tourism or whatever, people are extremely frustrated because they are not getting their fair share. People have contacted some of these companies and have been told it will be another four to five years before they get broadband and that aggrieves them. I will come back to the Minister of State on the intervention areas or the amber areas because there is a great that of frustration about those as well.

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