Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House. I join other speakers in complimenting the ESB workers on the effort they have put in. We sat here on Private Members' legislation one Wednesday night to prevent utility workers from having the right to withdraw their labour. On that occasion, I spoke of the efforts that the ESB workers, among other workers, put in during the 2010 snow storms. Little did I think we would be giving the same praise to them for working in the difficult conditions caused by the last three weeks of storms. I commend every one of them on their work, as well as all of the other front-line services, who were out day and night to make sure the country was able to get over the difficult storms.

I welcome the legislation that is before us today. It is important to tackle the difficult problem of broadband supply to rural areas. I echo colleagues' concerns regarding the mobile network service. In the very early days of this Seanad I raised the problem of poor mobile coverage on motorways, which encourages people to break the law by pulling in on the hard shoulder. This problem could be tackled very easily but, three years after I raised it, it is as bad as ever on the Waterford-Dublin motorway, where there are least three or four blackspots.

Senator Daly referred to the wayleave issue. When this issue was discussed in the Lower House, the Minister responded that there would be very little intrusion onto private lands. My concern is that new contracts will mean new personnel going onto people's land. Most rural people know and trust their local ESB staff, but might have reasonable concerns about unknown workers coming onto their land. I am also concerned about the compensation issue, as raised by Senator Daly. There must be clarity regarding the word "appropriate" in the legislation. In addition, will the Minister indicate how the policing of access and intrusion will be effected?

The problems regarding broadband coverage in rural areas have been well outlined to the Minister both here and in the Lower House. He told the Dáil that a mapping exercise is under way with a view to obtaining approval at European level. Will the Minister indicate what progress has been made in this regard? Reference was made to the detailed formal proposals the ESB will bring forward with regard to the roll-out of broadband on the existing network. Are we any closer to seeing those proposals? What type of detail can we expect and how far will the improved service extend into rural areas?

In regard to the role of the existing network, is this proposal dependent on the new Grid 25 proposals? Given that EirGrid is a sister company of ESB and the proposals by EirGrid are projected to cost €3.2 billion, is ESB's hand likely to be weakened in terms of its roll-out of the broadband scheme? I realise that it intends to bring in a strategic partner - according to the media, it will be Vodafone, which will bring in an investment of €400 million - but there will still be a major shortfall in terms of rolling this out. Will ESB be exposed by pursuing the concept of EirGrid 25 at a cost of €3.2 billion?

As already mentioned, the wind energy idea sector in this country has the potential to generate between 23,000 and 28,000 MW. Do we need this for our own use or is it intended for export? If the latter, where is the market? We are given to understand, for example, that the United Kingdom will be able to meet its own requirements through wind from Scotland and through nuclear energy, with several nuclear plants being brought forward in the coming years.

Although I welcome the legislation, it does raise a number of questions which need to be answered. One of these questions relates to the situation of the former CEO of EirGrid, who is now sitting on the board of Element Power. In other words, the person who headed up the concept of the build-out of EirGrid 25 is now sitting on the board of a wind energy company.