Shane Ross (Independent)

I move this motion on broadband in the full knowledge and with certain surprise that the number of column inches and the number of minutes devoted to broadband in this and the other House is painfully small. In his reply I would like the Minister of State to outline why broadband has had so little prominence in Irish political life in recent years. It seems to be one of the crying problems of the economy and desperately needs attention, particularly political attention. We only need to consider the statistics issued by various bodies to understand how badly Ireland is doing in the broadband stakes. In this debate I do not wish to engage in a pointless pass-the-buck blame game. However, it is very important that the results of this debate show that the Government is determined that our place in the European and other leagues is improved dramatically.

How on earth have we such a booming economy when we are so far behind in this vital infrastructure? We only need to review the statistics to underline that question. The figures issued, I believe, by the European Commission as recently as this year show we are ranked 19th out of 25 in the European league for broadband. If the accession countries are excluded, we are only ranked, I believe, 14th out of 15. That is a lamentable performance by Ireland, on which we will need to improve very quickly if we are to maintain our position as the economic heroes of Europe. There are two other pillars of this economic boom in which we have excelled. Obviously the rate of corporate tax has benefited this country enormously and our young population has been of great benefit to the country. However, that our infrastructure and particularly our telecommunications infrastructure is so poor indicates that it is vital that if we are not to fall down and lose our position at the top of the economic growth league, we must immediately take emergency measures to improve our position on broadband.

Sometimes we pride ourselves on being a much more modern, progressive and economically vibrant state than Northern Ireland, where broadband is accessible to every household. However, in the Republic of Ireland our figures are considerably below 50%. How is it that broadband is available to every household in Northern Ireland, but is not available to businesses and people down here who are crying out for it? The actions in Northern Ireland should be commended and considered by the Government. The authorities in Northern Ireland took the sensible, sober and modern attitude that broadband should be regarded as a vital utility and should rank along with water, electricity, telephones, gas and other utilities available to every home and business.

We do not take that attitude here. We take a strangely laissez-faire attitude to broadband, whereas we take an extraordinary attitude to State interference in other matters of far less importance. There is an unanswerable case for taking a route similar to that taken in Northern Ireland. The Minister of State can correct me if I am wrong. In Northern Ireland I believe that O2, as the kind of incumbent operator, was subsidised by local government in those areas where it was uneconomic for broadband to penetrate. It then became available to everybody. Let us not pretend that those of us who are free-marketeers always say there should be no subsidies, no state support and no state interference. There are cases and this is one of them. If broadband is not provided, the community, the nation and its infrastructure will suffer. The Republic of Ireland is coming close to that state. We need efficiency. We have plenty of money. We got €200 million out of Aer Lingus today and the Minister will not know what to do with it. What better way to spend that capital than to put it into infrastructure of this sort to improve the economy of the country in a permanent and measurable way.

Let me applaud the efforts of those promoting broadband. Let me single out, in particular, the Irish Internet Association, which has run a gutsy campaign without enough Government support highlighting that three prongs are necessary in broadband promotion. Those three prongs are what is known as the three As, namely, awareness, availability and adoption.

The first problem we have to address is that the awareness of broadband among the people of this country is lamentably low. Last week, the Minister announced he would provide €350,000 for an awareness campaign but that amount, which represents about 20 cent per PC owner, is far too small. We need a campaign which would make people in schools, communities and other groups aware not only that broadband is available but that it is necessary for small businesses and the people of this country.

If awareness is increased so that people know broadband is necessary for competitiveness, the second stage is to make it available. However, it cannot be made available without a tremendous push from the Government. Entire areas complain they are unable to get broadband. I see no reason the Government should not increase broadband availability by offering tax breaks to entrepreneurs. Small broadband companies are being established in a rather disorganised manner, without Government assistance, in order to offer broadband to various communities. That makes one realise broadband is being made available on a random basis in this country. It is usually based on the local exchange and it is often a matter of luck whether a service is available. A plan is needed through which the Government would give tax breaks to entrepreneurs who are prepared to take risks in this area so that the promotion of broadband in certain areas is incentivised.

A thorny issue has arisen with regard to the incumbent, Eircom. Governments have tended to blame the incumbent for dragging its heels and, while that may be the case, the fact of the matter is that an incumbent will not naturally assist its competitors. However, one competitor, Smart Telecom, has gotten into big trouble. That company has managed to enrol a paltry 16,000 customers on its broadband services. Whether through tax breaks or a shareholding taken by the Government, companies which are established to promote broadband need massive encouragement.

With regard to the third A, adoption, once people know that broadband is available, they must be persuaded to take it up. Again, we must incentivise large and small businesses. What better way to offer incentives than through a scrappage scheme, which would offer tax breaks or grants to people to discard narrowband and upgrade to broadband. Strong efforts are needed to lift Irish businesses to the level at which they can compete with their peers overseas.

What message is being sent to multinationals based in Ireland when they see how lamentably bad we are with regard to broadband? They see a wonderfully attractive country but are beginning to look to eastern Europe and we do not know what losses will result. Surveys I have seen suggest that by being so far behind, we risk losing as much as 1% of GNP over the longer term. If the Government is to launch a campaign to increase broadband take-up, it should not only use tax breaks but also a major educational programme in schools. Reputable consultants and economists warn that the cost to the economy will be highly damaging if we do not improve this vital part of our infrastructure.