Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to see the Minister's enthusiasm for the project. I am also delighted that his Department is engaging with the project promoters and the county council to ensure the town, the hub and the library will get improved digital and broadband access, specific to the two projects that will come on stream towards the end of the year. I appreciate that Eir is a private company with investors' capital but we will all agree that it has been gifted the opportunity to develop our telecoms network, with the profits that will doubtlessly ensue. We have a very ambitious broadband plan and it is something we simply have to get right for future generations. It is very important that Eir is reminded of the need to work and engage with local communities. It is inconceivable that it cannot accommodate a public library worth over €3 million, which is soon to open, and such an innovative remote working hub in the county's second largest town. I am delighted that the Minister is aware of this project and enthused and engaged with it but we need to send a loud and clear message to Eir that it must engage with the project promoters and ensure they get the broadband they need. These are probably the two largest capital investments in the second largest town in the county in recent years and are worth more than €5 million to the local economy between them. It is critical that, when the doors open to these facilities towards the end of the year, both of them have high-speed broadband.

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