Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent. There has been much emphasis, and rightly so, on broadband. I worked in the business sector before I became a Member of the House and I am aware that the first thing foreign investors ask about in this country is infrastructure such as roads and, most importantly, a good telecommunications system. If a country does not have a good telecommunications system, it will not secure foreign investment.

I worked in Telecom Éireann, and the company is now on its fifth owner. It was a mistake to sell Telecom Éireann for a pittance in the first place. I hope I do not sound ludicrous but I believe we should now nationalise Eircom and bring it back into State ownership. The four owners of the company to date took the money and ran. They took millions out of the company; some of them paid themselves as much as €3 million and €4 million per year. I do not believe anybody is worth that amount of money. In fact, there should be a ceiling on the salaries of people in chief executive positions of approximately €200,000 per year. If anybody cannot live on that amount, they must be doing something terribly wrong. Nobody is worth any more than that.

Broadband is important for the future of education. If the correct speed of broadband is available, Irish schools can link up with schools in other countries and link to programmes taking place in other schools. Unfortunately, broadband is not our only problem. We also have a problem with telecommunications in general. We are not up to speed in the level of service being provided to the public, business people, people who do remote working and people who are disabled. They do not receive an adequate service. As was mentioned by Senator Coffey, the infrastructure in this country is falling apart. Simple things such as poles and cables are not being properly maintained. If one's line is out of order, God knows when it will be fixed. There is not even priority for doctors or emergency services personnel.

The provision of appropriate broadband connections to schools is of particular importance. I do not see anything in the amendment proposed by Senator Joe O'Reilly that differs from what the Government is proposing other than the complaint that it is not being provided fast enough. That might be so but these things take time and the relevant research must be carried out.

Senator Larry Butler referred to sustainable energy. He has done a great deal of work on this. A great deal can be done to harness our rivers and lakes. This happened successfully in previous years throughout the country, particularly in my native Cavan, Monaghan and the surrounding area. There were corn mills in those counties that employed 50 to 60 people; there was plenty of business. The energy was generated from small streams and lakes. That infrastructure is still in place. It could be harnessed and up and running again at very little cost. It could be environmentally friendly.

In addition, we should return not necessarily to organic farming but to traditional farming, the old methods of farming. Everybody would be better off with that. I often think that good things can come from this recession or events that are perceived to be bad. Eventually, good comes out of that. We probably would not be discussing this issue if the country was not in a recession.

It was a scandal and disaster that Telecom Éireann was privatised. The fat cats ran away with everything and put nothing back. They are still around. It is a disgrace it was allowed to happen. What is wrong with nationalising Eircom? I believe it is the way to proceed.