Denis Landy (Labour)

I want to raise an issue relating to telecommunications on the road network and ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to address it. A number of people have contacted me in recent months, and I have been contacted by a number of gardaí in my own area, who must stop on the new motorways because the telephone signal is lost, particularly on the Limerick-Dublin route and the Waterford-Dublin route, where for ten miles there is no signal. People are aware of this now and they are stopping before they lose the signal because they are in the middle of business calls, etc. It is incumbent on both the providers of the telephone networks and the NRA to address this issue. I hope the Minister might call on them to do so in order that we can have proper telephone signals on all routes so that those using their time when travelling to do business can transact that business without interruption. It is becoming a major issue. The reason the gardaí contacted me is that they have come across many people who are pulling up their cars before entering such blackspots so that they can finish out their business calls when, in fact, they are breaking the law by pulling up on motorways. People who are not aware of this are in breach of the law of the motorway where one cannot pull in unless one's car has broken down. I would the Minister to address this matter through the network providers and also through the NRA.

In response to Senator Leyden, I am delighted that after 100 days he landed what would register not as a blow in a boxing ring, but maybe as a slight tip on the side of the head.