Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister as we debate this issue again, which demonstrates the importance of and our interest in the topic. Within the last few weeks we had an interesting debate about the connection between ICT, green energy and the smart economy that is being rolled out by the Government to cut back on CO2 emissions. During that debate, we heard how through the smart transport system people will be able to identify the optimum route to work that will take the shortest time. The Oireachtas joint committee met in the new Eircom headquarters, where we saw the sophisticated, up to date conferencing facility that offers tremendous benefits. We interacted with the office in Belfast, showing a way to avoid people having to travel while enjoying the benefits of a face to face meeting. I see great potential for the Houses of the Oireachtas and I welcome the fact the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has established a teleconference centre here that I hope will be widely used by Members.

Many people are concerned about the delay with the roll out of broadband but if we look at the statistics, seven years ago there were only 4,000 broadband customers in the country with little investment in the area. Today there are more than 1.25 million broadband customers, with investment in all aspects of broadband including mobile and satellite systems. It is essential we continue to do that because the roll out to schools is very important to familiarise the younger generation with the operation of computers because many of them will end up working on computers.

It is also important that we recognise the role of the private sector in this regard because it is the driver of this sector. The market has been liberated to allow private service providers. We can reflect on the fact that it may have been better if Eircom had been privatised subsequent to the roll out of broadband rather than in advance, when we could have had influence on the roll out and investment in it. Eircom becoming an equity play in the meantime did not assist the process of investment in the area.

The Government has clearly stated that it will only intervene where there is a failure of the market to deliver. To do that, it is providing grant aid under the recently concluded group broadband scheme. It is recognised that there are still many areas where the private sector has not been able to justify the roll out of broadband and where the failure of the market to bridge that divide means it must be addressed by the national broadband scheme. Currently 12,000 homes and businesses do not have broadband and they cannot be addressed under the national broadband scheme so I welcome the Minister's commitment that in view of EU recognition of the importance of broadband access, as highlighted by the report on European economic recovery, we will be able to access funds for the area. As we debate the Lisbon treaty, this is another example of the benefits of our membership of the EU.

I welcome the national broadband scheme, the group broadband scheme and the metropolitan area networks. By concentrating on these we will achieve the outcome we all want.