Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I acknowledge the work of the Independent Senators in bringing this worthy motion before the House. The previous speaker referred to the amendment. The amendment does not say anything tangible about the future or about whatever success has been achieved.

The Government has failed in the provision of broadband to ensure Ireland keeps up with the immense technological growth that has seen such huge advances in the competitiveness of our European neighbours. Some years ago Ireland was being applauded for our IT and technological advances and was an attractive location for foreign industries. However, we have reversed the engines with our failure in the provision of broadband. I listened to the Senator's defence of the Government's record. I am not seeking to say everything is bad and that nothing is improving but Fine Gael believes that the Government woke up too late to the problem and failed to recognise the scale of the task it faced. As a result, Ireland is now desperately trying to catch up with our neighbours, with limited success.

It is undeniable that there are increasing numbers of broadband lines and broadband subscribers and that there will be more of each in the future. The total number of broadband subscribers in Ireland, according to the latest report from the communications regulator, was up to 372,000. Recently, the Minister claimed a higher figure of 410,000. I read the Forfás report produced in 2004. That report predicted that by the end of November 2004, there would be 450,000 subscribers and that there would be 700,000 by the end of 2007. From November 2004 to October 2006, there are fewer subscribers than was predicted by Forfás in 2004. That demonstrates our lack of success in advancing the provision of broadband.

Some private operators, despite Government indifference and statutory paralysis, have made great efforts to get Ireland on-line. Recently, O2 announced it is investing €250 million in a network upgrade that will pave the way for the introduction of mobile broadband. The development will allow O2 to offer third generation mobile services and broadband to its customers. I am pleased with reports that the company is beginning with the Republic's main urban centres and then extending the work into rural areas. I urge it to ensure that the extension of the network to rural areas becomes a reality. It believes that its new services will cover 60% of the population by the end of this year, 80% by the end of next year and then proceed to cover 99.6% of the State.

The Minister has spoken of his plans to expand the regional broadband scheme to give coverage to the remaining 15% of the Republic's population that does not have access to high speed telecommunications services. The Department has spent more than €80 million over the last three years developing broadband infrastructure throughout the State. This includes the metropolitan area networks, commonly called MANs, for large towns and urban areas, group broadband schemes for smaller population centres, and school projects.

It is worth bearing in mind that the network for metropolitan area networks is being managed by e-net. It states it has 19 customers who are telecommunications operators. Incredibly, however, it cannot give us an idea of the number of residential customers who use the network to get broadband. One would imagine that e-net would be able to link with its 19 customers and establish with each of them the number of its residential customers. That would give the overall number of people who are availing of the MANs system, a system that was installed at considerable expense by the State.

I understood the logic of the State getting involved at the time. The telecommunications companies were finding things difficult financially and, therefore, would not put in the type of investment required to stimulate broadband provision. The State had to intervene. Of the 27 MANs built throughout the country, 22 can deliver broadband to customers. What has happened to the other five? They are not linked to the fibre rings in those areas, which is the essential technology required to supply the broadband resource to communities.

We originally assumed that Eircom would plug its fibre into these MANs to provide the broadband but that has not happened. We are aware of what has happened to Eircom and the changes that have taken place in the company over some time. When Babcock and Brown took over Eircom, I hoped the Minister would intervene to try to ensure that there would be local loop unbundling. We have had dismal success in that regard. Only approximately 2.5% of the DSL lines in the country are subject to local loop unbundling. Eircom has approximately 75% of those carrier lines. There has been dismal failure in this area.

I wish to quote a letter I received recently from Limerick County Council. It sums up the frustrations that exist with regard to broadband and the Government's decision, or indecision, in that regard. It states:

Dear Senator Finucane,

I am writing to you in my capacity as a Director on the Board of Shannon Broadband Limited regarding the current uncertainty surrounding the extension of broadband in the county. The position briefly is as follows:

There is approval for eight additional fibre rings to be installed in the region; [this encompasses the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen's, constituency of Clare] two of these are in County Limerick — Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West.

All of the route selection and design work has been completed in respect of these projects and advance works are actually in progress in Abbeyfeale.

We have been waiting for this for years. I recall being on the county council many years ago when this was first mooted by Shannon Development in conjunction with the partners in the different local authorities. What has happened? The letter continues:

Shannon Broadband are ready to go to tender for the civils and have been so since early August but have been instructed to hold off by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources who are currently considering amending the planned fibre networks (MANS) to wireless solutions which it is anticipated might facilitate the extension of broadband to a greater number of locations.

This may appear a laudable objective but we have been waiting for years for MANs to be established to give proper broadband links to communities. The letter continues:

Shannon Broadband have serious concerns regarding this potential course of action for a number of reasons: Primarily, it is considered that moving to a wireless solution would essentially be seen as a downgrade in the standard of broadband which would be available in the selected locations and so would weaken the potential for attracting economic investment into these areas. In many ways it could be seen to reflect the decision on the Red Cow roundabout many years ago in that it may save money now but ultimately would involve upgrades or alternative solutions at a later stage to stay in line with the rapid advances in technology.

The letter concludes: "I would greatly appreciate if you could pursue this matter with the appropriate decision makers as a matter of extreme urgency and convey the concerns of Shannon Broadband Limited in this regard." I presume the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources will have received a copy of this letter and will be aware of the frustrations of Shannon Broadband.

This letter, written by the director of service, community and enterprise, HR and corporate services in Limerick County Council, was probably circulated to all Oireachtas Members in the mid-western region. It outlines her frustrations, as a director of the board of Shannon Broadband, regarding the absence of activity in this area. The advances made by Shannon Broadband in recent years have been thwarted and sidelined as a result of a change of policy in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in what has been an excellent example of joined-up thinking.

I ask the Minister of State to give an appropriate response and inform the House of what the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is up to in this regard in order that I can relay this information to others. I have much more to say but my time has elapsed.