Brendan Kenneally (Fianna Fail)

ComReg has just published another report on telecommunications charges. We are the head of a league that it would be better not to top. We have discussed this comprehensively at the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources with all the stakeholders. Nothing, however, is happening. There is a suggestion that the high costs are because we talk so much on mobile phones but I do not subscribe to that view. We are being charged too much and we should debate that. It will not be possible to have such a discussion before the recess but the Leader might consider it for our return.

I support my colleagues' comments on sewerage schemes, the situation has become farcical. Towns and villages in Waterford are having their growth stunted because of the delays. A problem in one town can hold everything else up. We are told that even if one system that is causing problems is removed from the others, the entire process must start all over again. The bureaucracy is crazy and must be resolved. The Seanad should send a strong message to the Department and the Minister that it must be addressed.