Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Government with this legislation is recognising that we have to invest for the future. For several years, I was chairman of EuroCommerce, an organisation which spans the retail, wholesale and international trade sectors in the 28 European Union member states. I recall when visiting Estonia, I was impressed how they were so far advanced in e-commerce because of their excellent communications infrastructure. We need essential infrastructure such as next generation broadband. In Ireland, by estimate we only have 0.5% of fibreoptic connections compared with 61% in Japan and 57% in South Korea. This legislation is about giving the ESB a legal basis to engage in broadband provision.

Should we be giving the customer some legal right in this area? For instance, in 2010 it became a legal right for every Finn to have a 1 Mbps broadband Internet connection. If we included a similar provision in this legislation, it would give the Government a huge incentive to stay true to its commitment to provide next generation broadband. It would be interesting to hear the Minister’s views on this proposal. Businesses can really benefit from a broadband connection but I am concerned this legislation will not benefit everyone equally. As could be expected, it will be urban areas that will benefit first from fibreoptic broadband. Indeed, a recent report in the Irish Independent points out the deficiencies in the plan. Any ESB related fibre broadband will most likely simply be in areas that already have - or are scheduled for - high-speed broadband deployment already. The ESB has indicated that it will only look at towns of at least 4,000 buildings for new broadband services. Geographically, this metric rules out most of Munster and Connacht. The reality is that ESB-based fibre broadband is almost certainly not coming to rural locations.

I am particularly concerned for those running businesses in rural areas. Realistically, rural communities and businesses will be the last to benefit from such broadband. Will the Minister provide any guarantees that rural communities and businesses will not miss out? When I was chairman of An Post, I got to know nearly every post office in the country. I now see how they are threatened by such developments. Would it be possible to guarantee there will be such broadband for rural areas? Will the Minister be open to placing some such guarantee in the Bill? Should we first, as a priority, be targeting business and homes which have poor Internet access?

It has just been announced in the North that £24.5 million will be put into improving broadband access for 45,000 premises struggling to get online. BT has even pledged to complete the improvements by December 2015 to ensure consumers and businesses can benefit from them as quickly as possible. That is very quick. Will we include provisions in this Bill to target and help those businesses in particular who are suffering because of poor connection? If BT can provide access to 45,000 homes in such a short timeframe, should we be looking to get such a company to bid on providing similar access here? Do we need the ESB at all? Why not just open up the process and pick the best company at the lowest price? Why is the ESB’s expertise needed to set up fibreoptic broadband connections? That is a serious question. We saw where the expertise of those at Irish Water got us. It hired some outside consultants and paid them millions of euro. Why not simply cut out the middleman in the first place? We need to question moves such as this given the Irish Water situation.

How long will it take for this Bill to pass through the Oireachtas? Over 90% of homes in the North are connected to superfast fibre cabinet. Why are they so much faster across the Border? Is it because we have had so little investment over the years? Will we have a situation where businesses just across the Border will move further ahead in advantages compared with us in the South? I support the Minister’s moves in dealing with these challenges. I hope, however, it will be a quick process. One of my criticisms of what happens here is how long it takes to get things done. I believe we could move faster on this.