Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I must say, I am glad to see the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, taking this Topical Issue matter. It falls into his constituency as well so it is actually quite good. I am sure he will be aware of the situation.

In counties Carlow and Kilkenny, several businesses are having significant issues in operating online. I want to specifically discuss one business called Sunshine Juice in Tinryland in rural Carlow, which employs 50 people and has had huge issues with trying to run the business. After experiencing difficulties with Vodafone and Eir over recent years, the company was hopeful that the roll-out of high-speed broadband by NBI in the area would offer a solution. It is listed on the NBI map as being outside the intervention area as a provider, however. Vodafone has recorded it as receiving speeds of 30 Mbps.

They owners are in a situation where cables are going to be literally running past the front gate of the premises connecting homes and businesses around every side of their premises yet, unfortunately, they remain unserviced. A very practical example from this company, which I believe brings this issue home, is that the owners, who are in the business of juicing, had to send an email to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about releasing oranges from Dublin Port. The email did not send because of the poor broadband. As a result, an employee had to drive from Carlow to Dublin. They can see that their competitors are obviously having much more success in terms of online services. It is, therefore, vital for that area.

I will take the opportunity to highlight an issue that was originally raised with me at a meeting with County Carlow Chamber of Commerce. It has also come up a lot in Kilkenny, particularly in the last number of months with many more people working from home and trying to do homeschooling.

The Minister of State may be aware of the Kilkenny LEADER Partnership proposal to allow the village of Piltown in Kilkenny to access broadband and run the service itself, which the village would finance in conjunction with grants. The village would not only have access to the appropriate broadband but would have the benefits of running that service, almost like the old system of a co-operative. When I heard this after the Carlow Chamber meeting, I thought it was an excellent idea and not just for Carlow and Kilkenny. I am sure loads of towns and villages throughout the country would benefit from something like this. It is a really excellent idea. I hope the Minister of State will meet with the stakeholders if he is not aware of this. It could be a solution for many places.

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