Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will report on the regular meetings that his Department is conducting with the broadband service providers; when he will bring proposals to Government on achieving 100% broadband enablement of the State; if he is considering including an upgrading of all telephone exchanges and fixing the problem of shared lines within these proposals; if the cost of this proposal may be up to €200 million; if such investment would ensure that the State receives a stake in the critical communications network; if he plans a tendering process along the lines of the contract that was awarded to BT in Northern Ireland; the role he envisages for e-Net and the MANs in this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39125/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I meet industry and interested parties on a regular basis in pursuit of my objective to facilitate the widespread availability of competitively priced broadband in Ireland. The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter in the first instance for private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. The role of the Government is to implement regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of affordable, high quality telecommunications services by competing private sector service providers.

However, it has been clear for some time that the private sector has failed to invest at the level necessary to keep pace with the demand for broadband. Direct funding has already been provided under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 for the provision of backbone infrastructure and to upgrade local access infrastructure. My Department's regional broadband programme is addressing the infrastructure deficit by building high-speed open access broadband networks, in association with the local and regional authorities, in the major towns and cities. These metropolitan area networks, MANs, allow the private sector to offer world class broadband services at competitive costs. The networks also offer towns opportunities to attract inward investment in advanced technology and knowledge based enterprises.

The Department also offered funding assistance for smaller towns and rural communities through the group broadband scheme. The scheme is technology neutral, allowing the community to select the most suitable broadband delivery platform for the area.

Despite private and public investment in broadband infrastructure there are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband connectivity. Options to address these gaps in broadband coverage are being considered by a steering group comprising officials from my Department and representatives from ComReg. I expect it to finalise proposals shortly.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The Minister said he has ongoing discussions with the industry. Has he spoken to the executive chairperson, Mr. Pierre Danon, and the chief executive, Mr. Rex Comb, of Eircom about their proposal to enable broadband supply throughout the country for €200 million? They gave that estimate for dealing with split lines, exchanges, remote rural areas and so forth. Has the Minister met Mr. Danon and Mr. Comb to discuss this proposal? Has the Minister carried out a cost benefit analysis of the enablement of all parts of the country? In the Estimates the Minister apparently provided €10 million for this purpose. If Eircom estimates the cost of the job at €200 million, why is the Minister only allocating €10 million?

Will the Minister engage in a tendering process, as the British Government did in Northern Ireland? That process was won by BT and it gave Northern Ireland 100% broadband enablement. We have not yet attained that target. Will the Minister engage in a tendering process or will he make a special deal with Eircom? Given the level of State expenditure that would be necessary, is the Minister prepared to take a stake in Eircom in return for financial support to the company?

The Minister always refers to the MANs in replies to questions about broadband provision. However, we know the MANs do not solve the local loop or the last mile problems. Have we not already spent €120 million on the MANs project? Is it not the case that e-Net, the company administering the MANs, last year lost €4 million and is still losing money? Has the Minister received a proposal from e-Net on enabling broadband throughout the country or does he expect that company to engage in a tendering process? In other words, if the Minister advertised a tender for broadband, would he expect e-Net to make a bid alongside Eircom, BT and anyone else who wished to do so?

What is the Minister's opinion of the Labour Party's proposal to make Dublin city a wireless enabled zone so that broadband could be freely accessed in the city centre business and commercial district?

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I have had several meetings with Mr. Danon and Mr. Comb, including two where I met both together, during which we discussed a range of matters. At our initial meetings, the two men wanted to introduce themselves and outline their views on where their company was going and what they were planning to do. I wanted to learn their plans for broadband and the telecommunications sector in general. Eircom is clearly an extremely important company.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Did they put a specific proposal to the Minister?

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to give me a chance to answer the question in my own way. We discussed a range of issues pertaining to broadband and telecommunications. The €200 million figure to which Deputy Broughan refers was reported in a Sunday newspaper but, to my recollection, it was never mentioned in any conversation I had with Mr. Danon or Mr. Comb nor did I hear it confirmed by either following publication of the speculative article which mentioned it. We discussed the issue of providing nationwide broadband services and, as was the case with other private sector operators in this field during the 12 to 18 months in which I have dealt with them, they have pointed out they are in the business to make money and to give their shareholders a return. Their basic attitude is, while it is very laudable for the Government and Opposition Members to desire nationwide broadband, do not ask the private sector to pay for it. That is the real world in which we live. Even before Mr. Danon and Mr. Comb joined the scene, a number of providers predicted that certain areas of the country will not have broadband for the foreseeable future if we are not prepared to invest directly.

We have been aware of the issue since 2001 or 2002 and have established the county and group broadband scheme to address it. While that scheme has been successful in allowing communities to become involved, it is somewhat slow in terms of developing the type of coverage I would like to see in this country. For that reason, we are now considering the issue raised by Deputy Durkan with regard to bringing nationwide broadband to the last 10% or 15%. Discussions are ongoing in respect of how we might achieve that target and how we could shape a tendering process.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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There would be a tendering process.

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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A tendering process would be necessary. At this stage, we are asking whether we should divide the country into small areas, as we were doing, to provide services on a countywide or regional basis or if we should develop a single national contract. There are advantages and disadvantages to each option. We are sure, however, that we want a technology neutral solution so that we do not give the tender to one company only to have it claim it is running out of copper wires.