Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I was disappointed to hear the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, say he was unlikely to accept the Bill. I congratulate Senator Shane Ross on introducing it. I, too, have introduced two Private Members' Bills to the House. While they were not voted down, I achieved what I set out to do. The Minister at the time said he agreed with what my passports Bill contained and subsequently introduced a similar Bill the following year. In more recent times, on the Human Body Organs and Human Tissue Bill, the Minister stated somewhat similarly that he would introduce his own Bill to do exactly the same. While I would much prefer to see the Minister accept this Bill, as long as he takes action to achieve what Senator Ross is trying to achieve, we will have achieved something like it. There is a future in it.

I was elected to this House in 1993. In 1995, I returned from a visit to Singapore so enthused about the opportunity I saw for Ireland to become the hub of the information technology sector in Europe, if only we were to invest in IT and such technologies as broadband, which I do not think we understood as such. Unfortunately, we did not do so. Singapore did it. They achieved a great deal with what they did in Asia. I believe we could have achieved it here as well.

High-speed Internet is essential for economic growth. Those are the very words Senator Ross used. However, many parts of the country, especially rural areas and my own home, have little or no access to broadband services. My home is in County Dublin but apparently I am just on the wrong side of a hill. Earlier this year, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, pledged Ireland's broadband speeds would equal or exceed those of EU countries. However, the new EU broadband performance index shows that Ireland is still lagging significantly behind the EU average in terms of broadband capability. Ireland is ranked ninth from bottom. This is the country which 13 years ago I wanted to see become the hub in Europe.

In addition, we are lagging in terms of broadband speeds and other areas such as price and level of usage. When it comes to broadband connection speeds and capacity, Ireland ranks only 33rd in the world according to an international study conducted by Oxford University. Researchers at the university looked at the capability of broadband connections in 42 countries to find out if they are equipped for services like high-definition video and other enhanced content offerings. While Sweden and the Netherlands had the best-performing broadband connections in Europe, tellingly, they were still found to be behind the required standard for next generation services. The report revealed that Japan is the only country equipped to handle the roll-out of these services.

Broadband is linked strongly to innovation, which we must cultivate in Ireland. The United States is the leader in terms of high-tech start-ups and technology innovation and as a developer of talent. Ireland has done well in this area and is now ranked 15th by the Economist Intelligence Unit in terms of our information technology environment. However, we must consider the new competition. Three new countries — Sweden, Denmark and Taiwan — moved into the top five this year, displacing others such as Japan and South Korea. IT industry environments exist in Europe and Asia, including in emerging markets, and they are also becoming more competitive.

Broadband in Ireland is often too expensive, too slow and unreliable. We must address these shortcomings. While technology spending may be decreasing in many parts of the world, we need still to be investing in this area, to be seen as an innovation-friendly culture and to be ready for when the upturn in the economy comes, which I hope will be reasonably soon. We need to invest in broadband and perhaps we need to encourage more outside investment to build our broadband coverage to compete with countries such as Denmark and Holland which have 100% coverage. That is what Senator Ross is trying to achieve and I hope, whether his Bill is accepted or not, that he will achieve it in some form.

There are now an estimated 3 billion mobile phones in the world creating a vast potential user base for the mobile Internet. Many people will seek to use their mobiles to access the Internet. We in Ireland are in danger of being left behind in this area unless we address our broadband shortcomings. This year China overtook America as the country with the largest number of Internet users. It has more than 250 million. In addition, China also has 600 million mobile phone subscribers, more than any other country, so the potential for the mobile Internet is considerable. I visited China recently. In cities like Shanghai, children are carrying phones with touchable colour screen and TV functions. None of us may particularly welcome that, but one sees the youngsters with them.