Phil Prendergast (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent. I will not repeat what has been said already but I fully support the amendment. Despite the small improvements to broadband services there are still large parts of the country without access to broadband. I encountered an extraordinary level of frustration when I was canvassing recently among people living in rural areas in Tipperary who cannot access broadband. It has a huge effect.

People get frustrated when they see television advertisements offering great services in other countries at very competitive rates from different providers. During both the general election campaign and the more recent local elections a huge number of people expressed great frustration about this. I heard many uncomplimentary comments about the Irish provision of services. There is a feeling that Ireland is the worst country in Europe in terms of the delivery of broadband services.

The targets in the plan appear to be reasonable, but I am concerned about the aim to achieve 100% broadband access nationwide by including satellite and wireless providers. They provide a service that is adequate for most domestic users, but the two platforms are generally regarded as less reliable for business than a copper wire based service. A high bit rate fast DSL service delivered through existing copper wire telephone lines would probably work quite well. Members have proposed the establishment of another agency to co-ordinate broadband roll out. Such a proposal could be a problem in the current climate. It is already the job of the Minister and ComReg. The proposal of an agency to create a national broadband network could be used to take the heat off them when the targets are not achieved.

Broadband is significant and important infrastructure and top priority should be given to putting a system in place that will meet the country's ever-changing needs. It is needed by the many people who, for various reasons, are working from home, trying to maintain a business or to create a small or medium enterprise. They need the best services. We also need to attract jobs from abroad and to have a system in place that can compete favourably with other countries. It is a vital aspect of our communications strategy. The system we have at present is not working. At a time of recession it is vital that we have proper systems in place to meet the current needs.