Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I congratulate our colleague, Senator Ross, on bringing the Bill before the House. As he indicated when he introduced it, it is relatively short and simple and should be welcomed. I very much welcome the broad outline of the Bill in the explanatory memorandum, with which nobody could disagree. It is one to which every Member would sign up. Senator Ross and the rest of the Members were somewhat disappointed by the view expressed by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who indicated he is not accepting the Bill. One had hoped he would indicate when he would be in a position to set out the parameters of legislation reflecting the Bill before us. Pragmatic and realistic targets for access and penetration of broadband are very worthy of acknowledgement in light of the need for infrastructure and necessary investment. Anybody with responsibility cannot simply accept a proposal without being satisfied such targets could be met.

I certainly agree there is a need for more action and proactive measures in developing broadband and meeting market needs. We all accept we have lagged behind over the past decade. Private sector investment will continue to be required to roll out broadband infrastructure. The consultative paper envisages that private sector investment will be primarily responsible for the roll-out of next generation infrastructure. I acknowledge that Government incentives and initiatives are in place but we left the roll-out largely to the private sector in recent years and have been lagging behind. This is a concern.

It must be emphasised that broadband infrastructure will become a more vital component in ensuring our competitiveness. The failure to emphasise the role of broadband sufficiently is such that Ireland's broadband take-up is lagging behind that of some other European states. Broadband penetration in Ireland, excluding mobile broadband, is only about 20%. Accounting for mobile subscribers, there are approximately 1 million broadband subscribers in total.

As we know, the main responsibility for supplying and selling broadband rests with the service providers which operate in a fully liberalised market, as the Minister outlined. Investment in broadband infrastructure is driven by such service providers. One can understand why, in the present market, they would invest in and target densely populated areas rather than less populated ones.

I welcome the Government's commitment to and investment in connectivity, especially in high-level international connectivity. This was witnessed in respect of the investment in the Global Crossing system and in Project Kelvin, which not only provides connectivity but also affords us high-speed fibre access across the Atlantic, thus linking us to the global digital economy. The Government has implemented various intervention policies in respect of the metropolitan area networks, the group broadband scheme and the national broadband scheme. I welcome these along with the consultative paper on next generation broadband which charts the way for universal access to broadband and identifies key conduits for investment and connection.

In the past, we lacked access, mainly because of our policy direction. It is now all the more important to ensure access given that economic circumstances are as difficult as they are and are likely to remain so for some time. No Senator underestimates the scale of the challenge faced by our economy. Given the current global economic trend and the financial crisis, which is unparalleled in our history, it is all the more important that we seize every opportunity to advance as best we can. The job of Members of the Oireachtas is to help plot the correct course and design the comprehensive action programme for economic recovery as quickly as possible. We would all sign up to this and we have a solid base.

A great opportunity presents itself in the knowledge economy. There is endless scope for Ireland in this period of innovation and development of telecommunications technologies and digital applications. That developments in this area are likely to continue rapidly for the foreseeable future affords Ireland an opportunity to compete in the global marketplace provided we have the required infrastructure in place. We have all the required ingredients. We have a modern economy of a nice size and with a young, well-educated population who are probably more clued in to developments in the digital age than many of their European colleagues.

I listened with interest to Senator Ross's introduction to the Bill. I commend him on highlighting the importance of setting targets and measuring the progress of our success in achieving them. I do not wish to put my good friend and colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, or his officials on the spot but the opportunity that prevails regarding this cycle of events in the world of telecommunications, digital systems, fibre-optic cables and all that goes with it, and what is likely to advance at an even greater rate in the coming period, is a tremendous challenge for us. Because we accept we have been at fault in the past, it should be all the more important that we put the appropriate measures, targets and acid testing in place as we progress in the period ahead.