Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem is we have not had the sensible co-operation over the past 24 months. The Minister of State tells us today he expects 140,000 homes to be passed by the end of next year and the budget documentation we got a couple of weeks ago told us it would be 130,000, meaning only 10,000 more homes will be passed next year compared with this year. Where is the ramping up of this process?

I have a final point that the Minister of State can take up directly and I ask him to do so with the European Commission. The definition of high-speed broadband at European Commission level is 30 Mbps and there is no family in this country that would believe 30 Mbps is high-speed broadband. If the definition could be increased to 150 Mbps, 500 Mbps or 1 Gbps, it would stimulate private investment, as we have already seen. It would also ensure NBI could intervene where the private sector will not. That single step would help to address the overall deficit across the country.

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