Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I support the points made by Senator Ross. I was also impressed by what the Minister stated in his speech. However, in all fairness it takes a brass neck to table this motion. I do not take from the commitment and honesty of my colleagues on the other side of the House. However, it is shameful where we are in the broadband league. Look at where we stand in the OECD league, the European league and the global league. We are down with Zambia and other such countries in terms of our connectivity.

Earlier, I heard Senator Quinn speak about his difficulty. I live 15 miles from here and I cannot get broadband at home. I get broadband by satellite very expensively and very slowly and this is the way it will remain. Eircom will never provide me with broadband through copper wire because it will not invest in upgrading it. As I stated 15 years ago, when it was being sold, Eircom would never bring broadband to Belmullet. At that stage I did not think it would not bring it to north Dublin either. However, this is the reality. As Senator Ross quite rightly stated, this is impacting at all levels. He outlined the possible, probably and potential poor effects on the development of industry. The most significant thing, mentioned in Senator O'Doherty's report on the west of Ireland, is that we cannot develop the region without broadband access. Not only can we not develop it, we are losing the intellectual, creative and other abilities which could be distributed through broadband in many parts of the west. That is completely wrong.

I do not know the answers to this. I met the people from Irish Rural Link today, and they make the point that even with the best efforts of Eircom and the Government, there will still be thousands of houses which will not have access. Broadband access should be made universally available and should be supported by the State, because it is an investment in the State. It is as important as education. Senator Ross said it is as important as roads, and I want to say it is as important as education. Research depends on it, as does any kind of development. Human contact depends on it. For somebody from the west who wishes to keep in contact with a son or daughter in Sydney, voice-over Internet access is the only cheap way to do it. There are many losses and difficulties, and we are going backwards on this issue.

I listened to what the Minister said, but I do not agree with his enthusiasm because I do not see it happening. In my area, which is 15 miles from here, I cannot see how we will ever have regular, full-speed broadband available to us under the current circumstances. If we cannot do it in north Dublin where there is a huge population, then we can be sure that nobody will care about the places in the west with a smaller and more widely distributed population. A decision must be taken for the country. Broadband is as important as roads, education, industry and employment. That is why we need to make it available at this stage.

My suggestion is to make it available at satellite level. It is too expensive for people to pay the full rate for fast broadband speeds, but at least they can get fast download broadband speeds that should be supported by the State in those areas where it is not otherwise available, even though upload speeds are not available there either. There is no solution to this and I do not think speakers on the other side of the House have recognised that. The plan put forward by the Government, Eircom and others means these areas will never get broadband.

The Minister made reference to telephones. I was one of those people in 1971 who had to wait up to two years for a telephone to be installed, but this is different because broadband will never be available under the current plan. People are being ruled out of it, and that is why I cannot support the Government position. I will be fully supportive of the Fine Gael amendment.