Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, back. It is 19 years since he was a Member of this House. I was a Member of the other House and then I came here, so it was the other way around. The Minister has an enormous portfolio; it is mind-boggling. I must mark him in the Seanad but I did not realise I would also be dealing with refuse collection. I understand the Minister is being given that portfolio on top of everything else. It is not a great gift to receive. It is controversial and will be more controversial in the future.

Does the Minister for regional development, rural affairs, arts and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, have any input into broadband or is it the responsibility of the Minister for communications, climate change and natural resources? The Minister gave a general outline on broadband and it is welcome he is grasping this nettle and trying to do something constructive. There has been much talk about this issue over the years but very little action. The Minister has made a commitment to roll out broadband to 900,000 premises by 2022 and it will then revert to private ownership. Fianna Fáil is concerned about this - the Minister expressed his own concerns - because the privatisation of Eircom was not a good experience. However, it raised money for the State at that time, whether we like it or not.

During my time as a Minister in the former Department of Posts and Telegraphs, we invested a significant amount in the provision of telecommunications services and then we privatised it. The company was subsequently sold on a number of times. All the assets of the company were sold, including all the newly built facilities - for example, building to house the control of the system. One such building was built in Castlerea, County Roscommon, but all these buildings were sold off at low prices. Now the work of Eir is serviced from vans. There are very few places where people are based in a building where one can go to talk about one's telephone service. That was a bad experience.

What State body would be in a position to take on the roll out of the broadband service? Would the ESB have the capacity to take on this role? The Minister referred to the fact that the roll out of broadband is equal to rural electrification. The ESB provided a public service. I am in favour of a public rather than a private service. The ESB is an example of what this State provided back in the 1920s with the construction of Ardnacrusha and rural electrification. That was a State owned and a State controlled service. Without that, we would not have the service we have today. The same applies to the investment in Bord na Móna, which developing new opportunities. Again, it is an example of State investment. Let me give credit to the former Minister, Pat Rabbitte, who prevented the sale of Coillte. I think the Minister was opposed to that also. Is that part of Minister's portfolio?