Results 14,421-14,440 of 16,478 for speaker:Tommy Broughan

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I wish to make a final comment on the amendments. All sides of the House are browned off talking about roaming and about the need for a more competitive market. The information was not forthcoming from ComReg to the joint committee and neither did the Minister's Department have the information. There is a dearth of information. I welcome the Minister's announcement about amendment No. 10 as...

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I will not return to it. The Minister is missing an opportunity for a more punchy response to demand. If a person signs a contract he or she should receive service and should not need to talk to six different people.

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 12: In page 10, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(d) by inserting the following after subsection (1)(e): "(f) to regulate a universal service obligation for all broadband undertakings,";".

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 13: In page 10, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(d) by inserting the following after subsection (1)(e): "(f) to ensure that the national broadband network is fully accessible to third party operators,";".

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 16: In page 10, between 29 and 30, to insert the following: 6.—It shall be a function of the Commission to ensure that any telecommunications service provider whose business includes the provision of landline telephone service shall provide such a service within 3 months of the receipt by that provider of a customer order.

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Amendments Nos. 19 and 20 are in my name. In the three or four years since the establishment of metropolitan area networks, MANs, I have put parliamentary questions on a number of occasions to seek essential information about them. However, the Ceann Comhairle has ruled nearly all my questions out of order on the basis the matter is not directly in the Minister's remit. With MANs, the...

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Will the operation of those MANs be put out to tender?

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: These are amendments of the Communications Regulation Act 2002. Amendment No. 12 provides for a universal service obligation for all broadband undertakings. When will the Minister make the famous announcement, which the communication industry tells us is imminent, of a tendering process whereby the country will be broadband enabled? It was disappointing that we did not hear this during the...

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: This constituency is at the forefront of national endeavour and not just in hurling. The area is bereft of broadband. The usual excuse is that the lines are deficient because we paired lines to cope with the number of houses in the 70s and 80s on a particular line. Why are failure levels on our network as high as 25% when the rate in Northern Ireland is 1%, according to the last ComReg...

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: It would have been a great speech from the Leader of the Opposition. It is possible Deputy Bertie Ahern will be given the opportunity to find out, although knowing the Fianna Fáil Party he will not be left as Leader of the Opposition for too long. I assume people like the Minister and various other ambitious Fianna Fáil people when they are on these benches, as I expect them to be in...

Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Report Stage (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: I move amendment No. 9: In page 10, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(d) by inserting the following after subsection (1)(e): "(f) to invigilate the volumes and revenues of international and national mobile telecom services including all termination rates,";". These amendments are to amend section 10 of the 2002 Act as the Minister should have further expanded the powers of...

Fisheries Protection. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: There will be lots of meetings in the next few weeks.

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: As I watched the last 20 minutes of the Taoiseach's rant last Saturday night, I thought he would make a good leader of the next Opposition. The Government has been a failure in this area. Ten years ago, renewable energy sources came to 2% of overall energy resources, and that has remained so. Micro-generation, which is not even referred to in the White Paper, is an example of this failure.

Commemorative Events. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: That is a disgraceful statement.

Commemorative Events. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The Taoiseach should withdraw the remark.

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: Question 76: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will report on his policy to remove the transmission network from the ESB; if he will bring forward legislation to divest ownership of the ESB transmission network to EirGrid; his proposed timeframe for carrying out this action; the way he will guarantee the objective of achieving lower prices for...

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The ESB debt is approximately €2 billion. I remember when the Minister's predecessor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, told the House excitedly of the ESB's negotiation of favourable loan terms in New York to address a large tranche of the debt. What will happen to the debt and the ESB's financial controls if the Minister proceeds with his policy of removing an asset...

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The price of electricity has increased by well over 60%. What benefits have accrued to the people to date as a result of the Minister's handling of deregulation? Why should we be happy with the prospect of breaking up the ESB company, or atomising it, as the Minister said? Why has the Minister produced a policy on the transmission network, rather than the distribution network? What will...

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: EirGrid is a totally new company.

Electricity Generation. (27 Mar 2007)

Tommy Broughan: The chief executive of the ESB has mentioned that number.