Dáil debates

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Priority Questions

Telecommunications Services.

3:00 pm

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that poor broadband provision has been identified as a critical issue preventing job creation in the mid-west region; when MANs schemes lying idle underground in Roscrea and Templemore in County Tipperary will be connected; when there will be direct connectivity and competitive backhaul cost to Dublin and accelerated investment in next generation network broadband, which is crucial for North Tipperary companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43462/09]

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The widespread provision of broadband services is a priority for the Government. My Department has undertaken a number of initiatives to address the provision of broadband throughout the country, including the mid-west region. These initiatives include the national broadband scheme, NBS; the metropolitan area networks, MANs, programme; the broadband for schools programme, which is being evolved into a 100 megabits per second, Mbps, to post-primary schools programme; and the now concluded group broadband scheme, GBS.

Under the NBS the Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of broadband services to rural areas, many of which do not currently have any broadband service. The company 3 is required to provide services to all residences and businesses that are within the NBS coverage area and which seek a service. The NBS will provide broadband services in many areas in the mid-west, including north Tipperary.

The company 3 is progressing its network roll-out and services have gone live in a number of areas. The entire NBS area will be covered by September 2010.

Under the MANs programme, 86 MANs covering 92 towns, including Roscrea and Templemore, have been completed and e|net has been appointed as the management services entity, MSE, to manage, maintain and operate the MANs. The MANs are fibre based, open access networks, which will facilitate the provision of high speed broadband. The take up of this infrastructure will depend on the level of demand in particular towns but it does represent a valuable enhancement of the infrastructure in relevant towns.

It is expected that the Roscrea and Templemore MANs will be taken over by e-net in quarter one of 2010. Between now and the time that the Roscrea and Templemore MANs are handed over to e-net, both MANs are available to service providers through an interim MSE which was appointed to manage and operate the phase II MANs. All the services providers using the MANs are aware of these interim arrangements.

The lighting of both MANs and interconnection to other networks is a matter for e-net and the relevant services provider under the terms of the MSE concession agreement. The Government strongly supports investment in high speed backhaul networks by service providers. I am also advancing the one stop shop proposal which, by facilitating access to State-owned ducting, should improve the quality and speed of backhaul networks.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I note he said such provision was a priority. I have been listening to that since I was elected to this House two and a half years ago. The time for sermonising and high rhetoric has long since passed. The Minister should learn from the old saying we often use in the country, namely, that actions speak louder than words. He mentioned there were 86 MANs in the country. Can he advise how many of them are connected and in operation at present? What is happening under phase III of MANs in the case of towns such as Thurles where there is no MAN system. Forfás has said that despite recent progress "Ireland continues to lag behind competitor regions in range, speed and cost of broadband", and it includes Dublin in that respect. I ask the Minister to confirm or deny that he and his Government are discriminating against rural Ireland and the mid-west region in particular, as was stated by the chief executive of the agency recently, when he said in a briefing that the strongest and most serious impediment to creating jobs and to maintaining existing jobs in the mid-west region was the lack of a decent broadband service. A direct international dial-up service is not available in the region.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I call the Minister to reply and I will call the Deputy again to speak on this question.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister is presiding over this discrimination against rural Ireland and the mid-west region. This is not just a matter for e-net, it is a matter for the Minister and for the Government——

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I call the Minister to reply. The Deputy will not interrupt the Chair.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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——to have policy that will deliver equally to the people of Ireland,that will deliver as much to rural Ireland as it does to the people within the Pale.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy will have regard to the Chair.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I have to come back to——

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I will call the Minister in a moment. Deputy Coonan will have regard to the Chair.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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I always do.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I call the Minister to reply.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I will have to revert to Deputy Coonan on the exact number of MANs that are in operation. Of the 27 MANs under phase I — I am speaking from memory rather than detailed notes — all but one or two are connected and lit up. With regard to the phase II MANs——

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Is the Minister telling the House that he does not know the number of MANs that are not working?

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I do not have the exact numbers here. I am giving an estimate from my recollection. I said I would come back to Deputy Coonan on the specifics in order to be accurate. I have a clear broad outline but I do not have the exact numbers. Therefore, I will come back to the Deputy with that information.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That is extraordinary.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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This is Deputy Coonan's priority question.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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It is not extraordinary; it is perfectly understandable.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is extraordinary because it is taxpayers' money. Tens of millions of euro has been spent on that infrastructure and the Minister does not even know the number of MANs that are not working.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Thirty of phase II MANs have been handed over to e-net, with another 12 to be handed over in December this year and then the handing across will be completed——

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister has abandoned the policy altogether.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Allow the Minister to answer the question.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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——in the quarter to 2010.

In regard to the comments about neglecting north Tipperary, we invested some €80 million in the national broadband scheme to do the exact opposite of what the Deputy has said, namely, to make sure there is coverage across the country. There are some 50 electoral districts in Tipperary, which are covered by the national broadband scheme to make sure that services are delivered that would not be provided by the market.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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When will that happen?

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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We have set up and designed the schools scheme — the 100 megabits per second broadband to which I referred — with the purpose of ensuring that where the market has not delivered we will intervene and put high speed broadband networks in place, which would not only connect our schools but would make it easier to connect the other businesses in the same area. The 78 initial schools in the school scheme——

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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How many of those are in south Tipperary?

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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——will be connected by April 2010. There are a range of State initiatives that have been made in terms of the MANs, the schools programme and national broadband scheme. We have not finished there, we have given a commitment in the new programme for Government to bring that high speed system to every secondary school by 2012.

We will continue to evolve the MANs system because it is starting to work. It is a long-term investment that will take time to light up but it is the right investment. We are seeing that as more and more companies start to use it.

Photo of Noel CoonanNoel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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I do not doubt the Minister's personal commitment, but the reality is that broadband is not freely available in rural Ireland. When I speak about rural Ireland, I am talking about provincial towns like Naas or Nenagh. Many people do not have access to broadband. We want a definite timeframe for its delivery and a commitment to do so by the Government and Minister. The Minister has demonstrated a lack of commitment and interest. He does not even know what networks are working and what ones are not working. We want a broadband connection across rural Ireland and the Minister's commitment to deliver that. Time is running for the Minister as well.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The national broadband scheme is working. It is delivering services to areas week by week that would not otherwise have had coverage. We will go further than that. My officials are in Brussels today with the European Commission to work through arrangements as to how we will go beyond the national broadband scheme to provide that any further houses that cannot be covered for local reasons are covered by way of European support under the stimulus package to ensure that every house will have access to broadband. We are at the point where 65% plus of our houses have broadband connection. Some 70% of households have a computer. We must develop this technology in our schools, health system and businesses so that it becomes commonplace. However, to allow this to take place one must ensure there is ubiquitous coverage. That is why my Department entered into very complex and detailed contractual arrangements with 3 Ireland to provide these services and that is why we have reverted to the European Commission so that we can go further. We are determined to cover every house in the country. Having done so we will continue to work to roll out broadband services.