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

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and I apologise to the House.

Today is world telecommunications day. Every day I receive complaints from constituents about the dropping of mobile phone calls. Every day I must ask people to move their location so I can hear what they are saying. This is because of the quality of the mobile phone coverage.

On 1 February the Government launched its new national digital strategy, Harnessing Digital - the Digital Ireland Framework. One of the objectives set out in the framework is to make connectivity available to everyone. It set a target that all populated areas would be covered by 5G not later than 2030. Today, Eir has 5G coverage of more than 70% of Ireland's population, covering 322 towns throughout the country. That is close to providing coverage to every town with a population of 500 or more. Three has a population coverage of 79% for 5G technology. By 2028 we will have 146,000 km of fibre cable stretching across 96% of Ireland's land mass. Setting a goal, therefore, of only covering the populated areas of the country two years later, by 2030, is not very ambitious. On top of that, Government will have to tender for the new Tetra radio communications network, a digital radio service for An Garda Síochána and for the other emergency services, which is costing the taxpayer €40 million per annum at the moment. This network needs to be replaced with a 5G network to have geographic coverage.

Today there is a real gap in providing mobile voice and data services to address the black spots around the country that have a negative impact on businesses and tourism in our rural areas. This will have a significant impact on medical care, the care of older people, and the use of technology on farms into the future. As one of the most dispersed populations in Europe, Ireland has a relatively high percentage of its land mass with no mobile data coverage.

Now is the time to focus on the opportunities the State has by working in collaboration with industry to develop a shared rural network to address this issue, and to assist in the further balanced regional and economic development of our rural areas. This shared rural network could provide the critical 4G and 5G coverage that would enhance the operation of our rural economy, support key activities such as farming, medical services, older people's schemes in rural areas and SME business operations, and it could ensure that people would remain connected when travelling around our country, working in rural Ireland or living in rural areas.

I am aware that the telecoms industry is already engaging with Government via IBEC to progress a phase 1 proof of concept roll-out of a shared rural network, which would cost approximately €5 million. Will the Taoiseach consider this proposal?

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