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

Sadly, the Minister still has not acknowledged that remote working has an impact on reducing our climate emissions. The national broadband plan will deliver fibre to rural areas and families, who will come off the existing fibre broadband services. That provides an opportunity to improve the quality of wireless broadband services to families who are further down the list in terms of deployment areas by reusing that equipment.

I want to see the wireless equipment that is being taken out of some 30,000 homes over the coming year being used to connect families in more isolated areas to a wireless broadband service. To allow this to happen, councils and State agencies need to provide sites to these wireless operators so they can install transmitters to distribute the wireless broadband services. Because the extension of these services will have a short life span, up to the end of 2027, when the national broadband plan will be completed, these shites - sites - should be provided rent-free by councils and State agencies, in a proactive measure to reach out to the most isolated communities across the country.

See this speech in context