Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is always great when a senior Minister comes in to deal with this type of very serious issue. I do not want to give its name, but a small school in west Clare has a student who is visually impaired. A vital piece of equipment has been purchased between the school and the parents of the child, in order for him to access vital statistics from the whiteboard and to be able to operate on a level playing pitch with the other boys and girls in the school. This piece of equipment costs in the region of €4,000 to €5,000 and is available for the young person so he can progress with his learning.

We all want to see young people, whether they have disabilities or are able bodied, being able to go to integrated schools and benefit from the wonderful environment of a small rural school. However, this piece of equipment which cost so much money is rendered inoperable because there is no broadband. The broadband in the school is not at a suitable standard for this piece of equipment to work.

I have liaised with the broadband officer in Clare County Council, who has been out to the school, tested the lines and determined that the speed is totally inadequate to operate any kind of equipment, not to mention this particular piece of equipment. The nearest Eir connection is over 1 km away from the school.

I am raising this matter on the Commencement of the House today because I do not know what else to do. It is grossly unfair that a school in rural Ireland would not have broadband in the first instance. While I understand there are a number of schools in this situation, and something was done for many of them, there are some exceptional cases such as this where nothing is happening. What compounds the situation and makes it all the more urgent is the fact that there is a student whose parents want him to learn, yet who cannot learn because of his disability and because the equipment provided to him is rendered inoperable by the lack of broadband.