Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House and commend Senator Doherty for the significant amount of work and commitment that has gone into the recent report on awakening the west. It is clear, concise, realistic and full of recommendations that would make a considerable impact if enacted. I am pleased to be able to debate some of the issues. Rather than dealing with all of the issues, many of which have been addressed by other Senators, I will concentrate on two specific areas, namely, community empowerment and access to quality broadband.

Rural communities, particularly those in the west, will probably not spend much time lamenting the death of the Celtic tiger. Evidence of the economic boom was thin on the ground in rural communities across the country and, now that the depth of our economic crisis is apparent, we can evaluate the rural landscape after a decade of transitory wealth. Some of the main features of that landscape are widespread rural unemployment, as high as 40% in parts of County Mayo, underdeveloped infrastructure, not just roads and rail, which have been mentioned, but broadband, water and sewerage, widespread social exclusion and pitiful levels of digital infrastructure. As stated in Senator Doherty's report, broadband access is as low as 13% in parts of the western region.

Despite the problems and challenges faced by rural communities, there remains hope and opportunity concerning the development of sustainable economic and social structures. Last year, the Community Development Journal published an article called "Development in the West of Ireland: Twenty Years on in the Killala Area." The area is representative of small communities in the west. It suffered through the economic ruin of the 1980s as well as more prosperous times from the late 1990s to the present. As stated by one contributor to the article, "the Tiger must have drowned in the Shannon River, because he never made it here".

Despite difficult economic conditions, Killala fought the tide and made considerable advances through the empowerment of the Killala Community Council, KCC. There are many similar councils across the country, but the KCC is notable for its success and advocacy efforts. The model is rooted in the concept of community empowerment, training and planning. Council meetings are held on a monthly basis and are open to all residents in the area. The council employs a full-time office manager and a development officer to ensure the council's relevance on a day-to-day basis.

The council had considerable success in terms of developments for the community. For example, it has lobbied for business start-ups in the area, purchased land for lease to entrepreneurs, built new facilities for the fishing industry, lobbied to expand the port, established a local transport service and health centre and facilitated numerous social and leisure activities to bring the community together.

Like the rest of the country, Killala will face an unprecedented set of challenges in the difficult years ahead. However, the town has set a useful precedent for survival and community empowerment. The model can be easily replicated across the country. If we fail to empower local communities, more of them will wither on the vine in the coming decades. As it is, many towns and villages in the west are barely getting by, kept alive by declining levels of local employment and European Union grants. Community empowerment represents the best chance for reactivating the west and encouraging sustainability, self-sufficiency and economic viability.

I want to highlight the issue of rural broadband. It is an absolute disgrace that, in 2009, only 13% of households in the western region have access to broadband. It is particularly irritating to listen to the Tánaiste's latest collection of stock phrases, including the smart economy, knowledge society and innovation economy, when the vast majority of residents in her own county, as Senator Doherty will well know, are being forced to consider a basic amenity as some kind of luxury. Broadband is used by everyone in the east, but the west should also have access toit.

In this context, the national broadband scheme is obviously welcome and I recognise its general merit and the good intentions behind it. Despite recognising the scheme as a step in the right direction, I have considerable concerns about its impact on broadband attainment in the west and in rural Ireland. Specifically, I refer to concerns raised in an evaluation report from Irish Rural Link, IRL. In the report, IRL highlights the absolute stupidity of focusing predominantly on mobile broadband. According to ComReg, mobile broadband is only suitable in a number of circumstances, those being, for people and businesses that do not require a high-end broadband service and for those who are not heavy Internet users.

Is it just me or do these two points raise alarm bells about the scope of the scheme? Are rural communities not entitled to a "high-end service"? Similarly, who decided that rural users are not heavy Internet users? In my constituency, which has rural areas, I know of householders and businesses on the fringes of commuter towns that are not too far from Dublin, such as Dunshaughlin and Ratoath, that bought mobile broadband packages only to find that their connections were essentially useless.

The report also challenges the assertion that the scheme will lead to 100% broadband access across Ireland. However, 100% geographical coverage is not related to quality or speed in connection. The scheme guarantees that households and businesses will be able to access a broadband connection, but provides no guarantee on the speed or quality of that connection. I want the Minister to revert to the House to clarify these points. Rolling out a national broadband scheme is wonderful, but it is in danger of becoming a piecemeal solution unless we can clarify these points.

I congratulate Senator Doherty on this fantastic and worthwhile report, on which it is clear he spent much time and effort. It is representative of his commitment to rural communities and I hope it will open a debate on the challenges faced by rural communities as we face into an extended period of economic contraction.