Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte to the House. We will support the passage of the Bill as it will increase competition in the broadband and electronic communications market and will reduce costs to the consumer.

Our concern relates to the investment required to provide broadband in rural Ireland. I am sure the Minister is great at studying "The House of Cards" on Netflix, but that might be outdone by activities in the House this week. Surveys conducted by Netflix, show the broadband speeds in Ireland are among the worst in Europe. The issue of high speed broadband will be resolved only by investment in infrastructure, especially in rural areas. My colleagues and I deal with communities who cannot even access a proper mobile phone service in places such as Caherdaniel, Castlecove and others in County Kerry.

They are fighting to have a better mobile telephone service. Today we are talking about broadband and high speed broadband. My concern is that it will be mainly concentrated in Dublin in terms of investment and to give a maximum return for the new structure. There will be some element of having to provide broadband in rural areas - the 15% that generally lose out in that regard are those people who live on the peripheries. That would further isolate and make sure that those populations continue their history of population decline.

I seek clarity about the use of the term "compensation where appropriate" in the explanatory memorandum. The Minister is aware of the Supreme Court rulings on the rights of private property owners. Perhaps he will clarify what is meant by the words "where appropriate". I know that the use of State facilities, such as Garda stations and other facilities, including ESB and Telecom Éireann yards, and even hospitals, are utilised by agreement. The term "compensation where appropriate" is worrying. What does it mean? Does it apply to private landowners such as farmers, forestry owners or private individuals? What about monopolies and the commitment given to supply 30 Mb to all rural homes by 2016? We all are aware of previous governments making commitments and asking for targets and guidelines. Having targets and guidelines is all well and good. However, there must be financial consequences if those to whom we give the rights do not install a proper infrastructure in rural Ireland. If there are no financial consequences for them then they will not meet the guidelines and targets. They will not benefit commercially because installing the infrastructure will cost them more than what they will earn from the revenue generated.

I am concerned about this new structure. It gives companies serious powers and some regard the provision of fibre broadband for resale to be a monopoly. I wonder how the issues of compensation where appropriate and providing a broadband service in rural Ireland will be addressed. The mobile telephone service is not up to scratch so I am concerned about the proposed broadband service. We welcome the legislation but we have a few concerns.