Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources the progress made by him in his talks with the telecommunications industry in the forum he established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2630/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Under the NewERA proposals in the programme for Government, there is a commitment to co-invest with the private sector and commercial semi-State sector to provide next generation broadband access to every home and business in the State. The next generation broadband taskforce, which I convened last summer, has an important role to play in this regard. The taskforce, which I chair, comprises the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, the CEOs of all of the major telecommunications companies operating in the Irish market and CEOs of some other companies that provide broadband services. The purpose of the taskforce is to discuss and report on policy issues and proposals in regard to the provision of high-speed broadband across Ireland.

The taskforce, and four working groups reporting to it, are considering issues such as targets, spectrum policy, private sector investment plans and the removal of barriers - for example, local authority wayleave processes - to facilitate investment. I expect that the taskforce will help to identify how best to deliver wider customer access to high-speed broadband generally and thereby assist in delivering on the commitment in the programme for Government.

The taskforce will conclude its deliberations shortly. I intend to consider the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report of the taskforce and to make a submission to the Government in this regard. It is my objective to move quickly thereafter to put in place the optimal policy environment for the delivery of high-speed broadband.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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A favourite term of expression among public servants is "shortly" or "in the near future". Could the Minister give a more precise definition of what "shortly" means? Does it mean one, two or three months, or three years?

The Minister is now ten months in office. Does he not believe it is time he moved on with regard to broadband? What is his policy, rather than that of the industry, on bringing fibre-based broadband to every home and business? What is his policy on the availability of mobile broadband for those who want to use broadband on the move? Has he set out for the taskforce basic requirements that he needs the industry to meet?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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What does "shortly" mean? I do not know what it means in the public service, but in this case-----

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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What does it mean to the Minister?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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-----in answer to this question, it means "before St. Patrick's Day". It is not two years, three years or anything like that. We will bless the report with the shamrock before St. Patrick's Day.

The work of the task force, as is made very clear, is technology neutral. The merit of it is that it is a unique partnership between Government and the chief executives of the leading operators here. What we are trying to do is to design a road map for the future to find out where the weaknesses are and to prepare for next generation access. I explained there are four different working groups looking at different aspects. The Deputy has a later question concerning spectrum auctioning. Spectrum policy is one of the issues under consideration and another is the remarkable variations that apply in different local authorities in terms of facilitating investment in their own county. These four separate work groups are involved in detailed, painstaking work that comes back to the task force itself.

While I would not like to tell the Deputy that the next meeting of the task force will be the last meeting, I think it will be the last meeting but one and that we will have the report completed by St. Patrick's Day. I hope it will identify the strengths, weaknesses and deficits, and where investment has to be made for the next generation broadband.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister agree the industry has its interests, which are mainly shareholder interests, and also that some in the industry reputedly, from what we read in the media, have huge financial constraints in regard to what they can do or want to do? I would be interested in finding out what the Minister said the Government wants to do in this regard and the minimum that is acceptable to the Minister, whether directly done by the industry or done by the State.

Second, does the Minister believe in this idea that all technologies are neutral or does he agree that some technologies actually give better results than others? Does he agree that for a fixed premises it is very hard to beat fibre-optic cable? Specifically, has the Minister plans to ensure that, as was done in the 1940s when we decided to roll out electrification to every house in the country, fibre-optic cable is rolled out pervasively throughout the country to ensure high-speed access to both businesses and individuals?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Deputy is right in the sense that any of these private sector companies have a duty to their shareholders - there is no doubt about that. However, they also have a vested interest in serving the largest segment of market they can get in this marketplace and, in the process, encouraging a competitive dynamic that does exist, in all fairness, despite the small marketplace. I do not see any point in the State doing what these companies can do well. The problem is that there are areas in which they are less than keen and interested, and there is less of a return for their shareholders. That will leave the Government with a challenge.

It is not a question of whether I believe technology is neutral or that all technologies are neutral. All I am saying is that a guiding principle of the task force is that it will approach the problem from a technology neutral point of view. It would be very difficult to bring together the heads of the telcos operating in Ireland, who have a different interest, and tell them I am only going to roll out fibre-optic cable to homes. If I were to do that, apart from the wisdom-----

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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It would be stupid to do that.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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-----it would be stupid to say that and to proceed on that basis. We will avail of all the technologies that are there to make sure we roll out high-speed broadband to the optimum number of homes in Ireland.