Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about the lack of broadband in Mayo. As a previous speaker said, people in Mayo are taxpayers as well. They have been promised broadband and they are not getting it and they look at screens telling them it will happen in 2025 or 2026. Not one home has been connected yet. We have asked for details about the contract, such as whether there will be penalties for targets not being met or what will happen. It reminds me of the JobPath situation and the sell-off of Eircom. People want to know that they and their money are protected but they also want to know when they will be connected. That is not happening at the moment.

Third level students are trying to study from home. We are creating such inequality through all of this and it is so unjust, particularly in rural Ireland and the west, which needs investment. We are continuously promised jam tomorrow and told that everything will be alright next month or the month after but we are not getting anything. I have a leaving certificate student in my house and when he switches one thing on I have to switch off another. We cannot work like that. So many Government essential services are delivered online at the moment, and rightly so because efficiencies can be achieved there, but the inequality that is built in by not having proper broadband connectivity is just not right. There is a lack of transparency around what is going to happen and this House deserves to know what is happening.

On the issue of the equity, we were told in the first instance what the company that was granted the contract would be investing in it and then we found out that was not true at all. We do not know what to believe at this stage but we want broadband. There are people with disabilities who are at home and who need connectivity because they are socially and economically excluded from society. Target after target is not being met and we are not given an explanation for that. We were told for a while, as we were with many other services, that this was because of Covid but I do not accept that. This should not have been delayed with Covid because it was considered an essential service. We in Mayo have absolutely no confidence that the targets will be reached and we are running out of patience and out of road. We have certainly run out of broadband and connectivity. The Minister of State informed us that the investors have already extracted millions to cover their own costs incurred during the bidding phase. That is just not right. There is still not a single home connected in Mayo. I talk about Mayo but this affects so many other counties as well. It is disingenuous for the Government to claim that the equity investment that was to be put in by the investors can mean equity or debt financing. People want a return for the money. They want fairness, justice and value for money. They are certainly not getting this with regard to broadband in Mayo. They want the truth at this stage.

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