Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I wish to raise an issue first raised by my colleague from the Cork North-Central constituency, Deputy Dara Murphy, which concerns the Hibernian Express cable that is being laid between the UK and the US. There is an opportunity for a connection to be made into Cork which could service not only that county but Kerry, Limerick, Galway and all of the west coast. It is a great opportunity to improve connectivity and bring it up to tier 1 standard.

At present, the cost per month for this type of connection to a company in Dublin is approximately €3,000, whereas it is approximately €10,000 per month in Cork, Limerick or Galway. As this cable is being laid between the UK and the US, there is a great opportunity to connect to it off the Cork coast and bring that connectivity to Cork and other areas. We have until the end of this month to make a decision on the matter.

I ask that the Acting Leader would bring this to the attention of the Government and that a decision would be made. This is about the creation of jobs. Once the standard is brought up to tier 1 level, this improves the attractiveness of the area in terms of creating jobs as industry can access a worldwide market at a far lower cost, which is important. This matter should be brought to the attention of the relevant Department and Ministers so a decision can be made at an early date.