Derek McDowell (Labour)

It should unbundle, get done with it and allow the competition, but I am not persuaded that even if this happens, all parts of County Galway or County Mayo will have broadband within a reasonable time.

We need Government to take the lead here, to state that it regards this as a matter of licence and that it will simply trade the licence to provide broadband to the entire county of Mayo, or to most of Mayo, to a particular company which will tender for it. We need to go that route. We need to encourage competition between companies for that tender and part of the price will undoubtedly be paid by the users of the service although it is likely it will have to be subsidised by Government. There is a need for the Government to grasp the issue. We cannot wait for the market to deliver broadband because I do not think it will ever do so on the Erris peninsula. We just will not get broadband in the measure needed, as quickly as needed and as widespread as needed.

Tax is another issue to which I want to refer. I have long been a believer, as the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, and as the Leas-Chathaoirleach will know, in harmonisation of tax but this is an argument that is becoming increasingly more urgent. Many more countries in Eastern Europe, the newly acceded states, have moved to a flat tax and l listened last night on the BBC to the Prime Minister of Estonia who made it quite clear that the notion of progressive taxation is a thing of the past to which he has no intention of returning. It is inevitable that this will become more common in existing member states of the European Union. The notion, as the House will be aware, famously surfaced briefly during the German election and, thankfully, has now gone away.