Seanad debates

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Information and Communications Technologies: Motion

 

5:00 am

Photo of Jim WalshJim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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I move:

That Seanad Éireann welcomes Government initiatives to support the further development of sustainable information and communications technologies in Ireland with a view towards creating sustainable economic opportunities in new information and communications technologies sectors.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus molaim an rún atá os ár gcomhair anocht. In proposing the motion from the Government benches, I note it concentrates on an area that will be critical to our economic well-being in the future. I am disappointed by the amendment that has been put down. I am sure my esteemed colleague opposite, Senator O'Reilly, for whom I have the highest regard, was not instrumental in the wording of the amendment. That amendment in a critical way homes in on a narrow aspect of this issue, namely, the roll-out of the broadband network, which is obviously very important but is only one part of the overall thrust of what the proposal is about.

We are in interesting economic times and there are many challenges across the global economy to various states in regard to ensuring that the economic basis they have built will survive the current recession. In addition, the challenge for Ireland is to ensure we position ourselves in the right areas in order to advance the unprecedented economic growth which we have seen here in the past ten to 15 years, which brought us almost full employment and one of the highest GDPs in the Western world. While we are taking a cold shower at present with the global downturn, at the same time we must focus in a positive way on ensuring not only that we meet the current challenges but that we lay the foundation stones for our future economic well-being.

It is fair to note that our expertise in the area of information and communication technology and the pharmaceutical industry was a significant part of the fuelling of the growing economy we enjoyed in the past decade or two. This came about through investment in research and education going back to the 1960s, when we laid heavy emphasis on secondary education in particular, as well as the taxation policies which were a driver of so much of the foreign direct investment we saw coming into Ireland. The fact we were members of the EU was also critical to the attraction of that foreign direct investment.

In the past, Ireland would have been noted for its emigrants and for how well they worked, often in unskilled areas because they had little education. Much of Britain and the United States was built on the toil, effort and commitment of those workers. Today, I see a more educated cohort of young people who work extremely diligently and over long hours, applying themselves to their duties and responsibilities. This gives me confidence as we move forward and will provide a significant impetus to restoring our economic fortunes and building on them in the future.

It is important to acknowledge that the factors which helped us in the past to achieve the success we achieved may not altogether be sufficient to deliver the vision of the knowledge economy we are now targeting. Competition within the area is fierce and many developed economies share the same vision. Therefore, we should continue to focus our investment in the areas of research and development and higher education. They will be essential in attracting new enterprises and laying good, solid foundations in future. We have also targeted the green agenda and renewable energies which are fundamental to future success. There is a link between information and communication technologies, ICT, and renewable energy and it is critical to marry these areas. There would be potential benefits from such a move.

Our over-dependence on fossil fuels must be reduced because it is affecting greenhouse gas emissions which is a significant factor but not the only one. There is a body of evidence which shows clearly that fossil fuels are a finite resource and will not be with us past the end of the century. Therefore, there is a compelling force, not only on us, but on all developed economies, to ensure alternatives are available.

The White Paper on energy in 2007 set ambitious targets for the development of sources of renewable energy in Ireland. A range of Government actions, including the ocean energy strategy published in 2008, form a very important part of the plan. Opportunities taken will raise Ireland's profile in this area. The emphasis on research will make it attractive for companies and corporations to view Ireland as a location for research and development and other high technology developments. Hopefully this will not only apply to overseas companies and we can develop our own entrepreneurial spirit within the country. It is important to ensure an indigenous presence in this developing area as well. We have developed this area very successfully, especially in the last tranche in which we laid such emphasis on the whole area of computer technology. There is an onus on us to develop a lower carbon economy and mobile communications.

Every day we read in the newspapers and see on television examples of the current doom and gloom and sometimes we loose sight of the many success stories here. There is in the order of 210 foreign-owned ICT companies in Ireland, including some of the major world players such as Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Dell, Google and many others. However, there are also 660 indigenous software companies from a wide variety of sectors including financial services, security, animation, health care, education and so on. Turnover in this sector in Ireland is approaching €55 billion, which is substantial. The ICT industry accounts for half of all Irish business investment in research and development. The Government allocated €8.2 billion in 2006 for research for the period 2006 to 2013. There will also be a significant sum spent on sustainable energy and research. It is important to ensure enough money is spent on research and development, which is fundamental to positioning ourselves properly to avail of this area in future.

However, the mobility of multinational companies and their ability to move from one jurisdiction to another is something of which we must be mindful. While many companies carry out research and development here because of financial supports, the taxation system, our educated workforce and to avail of our expertise in these areas, it is crucial that we hold the subsequent downstream development arising from the successes to ensure it generates employment here. This is a separate challenge for us and this is why restoring and regaining our competitiveness is of such crucial importance.

I have stated many times in the Chamber that our wages are exceptionally high and I am concerned about the level compared to other countries. We must ensure we can meet the competition from abroad as it positions itself to attract such industry.

The impact of information and communication technology on emissions reduction is at the embryonic stage. The calculation of our greenhouse gas emissions reductions using ICT has involved the OECD, the EU and other bodies. It is imperative that this marriage is successful. If we can position ourselves as one of the primary drivers in this area on the global stage I have no doubt the fruits of the investment and the vision will become apparent. I wish the Government well and I hope all sides of the House will support its thrust in this regard.

Photo of Larry ButlerLarry Butler (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to stay away as much as possible from my colleague's contribution. We must consider the new sustainable energy available in the country which is vital. I refer also to the smart economy document because it was not sufficiently publicised or talked about in the media but it is probably the most important document since Seán Lemass's contribution to the country.

I recognise Senator O'Reilly is very interested in the renewable energy sector. While he was working on other campaigns we invited the Spirit of Ireland to an all-party meeting. I have provided some information to the Minister of State which will form a very important part of the prospects of our economy in future. We could create a whole new industry based on our energy resources and we could make ourselves totally self-sufficient in energy.

The west was often seen as a place where one would not normally invest but it is now key to ensuring we have an independent supply of energy, an indication of how important it has become. It will be our saviour because with new technology we can produce energy from there, thanks to the good offices of the people of the Spirit of Ireland. If there was no downturn in our economy such people would not have come together. They work on a voluntary basis. An organisation in Shannon has offered it a premises to use as a headquarters which is fantastic. It is very much in touch with the future and I believe such bodies represent the future.

We are examining what we can do for ourselves in the next five years. If within the next five years we have four stations on the west coast we could be self-sufficient in electricity supply. Wind energy is an important source but the problem is that it is intermittent and we have not been able to store wind energy because the technology has not been available heretofore. These people have explained how this can be done. A hydro system is used which is similar to Turlough Hill. If Turlough Hill were to be reconstructed, it would cost an absolute fortune. Ireland is only one of six countries in the world which can undertake such a project and this is because of the geology of the land. Ireland's land has three main sides to it. We need to build a front and it would entail only the cost of building the front which can be flooded from the sea. We have the water to do it and we can plug into the existing system of wind energy. Two lakes will be formed and water will be pushed up into the higher lake when the wind is blowing and the energy is then stored to ensure supply when needed. This is new technology. This can be done but politicians will have to support it. Legislation will be required to be changed and it can be changed in this House. The group will come back to give a full update to an all-party meeting in September. A complete check will have been carried out with all the local authorities along the west coast to ensure that the draft development plans are in line with what they are looking for. We should create a permit system for them. It is in the national interest to have independent power. We could be an exporting country within five years. This shows the importance of this project.

I wish to speak on the subject of education as it is connected to this technology document. Ireland is a very good English-speaking country with highly skilled teachers who provide very good education. We are not exploiting this resource to the full. Ireland earns about €800 million through the teaching of English but a similar country, New Zealand, earns €4 billion. Our nearest neighbour earns €7 billion by teaching and upskilling people in the English language. This is a huge opportunity for us and one wonders what we are doing wrong. We would need to relax our visa system. There are many fields of expertise in which Ireland could become a leader but we need to have foresight. We need to tie in this new energy system into the smart economy and push our new English teaching system into that smart economy. If we do that, we will be on the right tracks and we will recover quickly.

Photo of Joe O'ReillyJoe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

criticises the Government for its failure to adequately roll out next generation fibre optic broadband networks in Ireland which will be essential to attract additional foreign direct investment and to foster new enterprise start ups within Ireland.

On a positive note I acknowledge the achievement to introduce broadband into our schools. This was a good achievement and a very important and necessary educational tool and it has gone well.

The national broadband scheme is welcome but there are three issues which I wish to raise with regard to the scheme. First, it is regrettable that the Minister keeps putting back the date when there will be blanket cover - it is now back to the end of 2010. Second, large areas of rural Ireland are not being covered and Irish Rural Link tells us that 12,000 homes and businesses across the country cannot currently receive broadband and will not be fit to receive it. We are creating a rural-urban divide on the provision of broadband and a technological apartheid in the country. Third, it is based on mobile technologies and the jury is out on whether they can adequately ensure that rural Ireland will be ready for second generation broadband. Next generation broadband is absolutely essential to the economic recovery of this country. The amount of information being created and stored and transmitted digitally worldwide continues to expand at an exponential rate. Industries such as services and research are becoming more important than the traditional industries. They are also green industries and not reliant on fossil fuels, which is significant.

We need fibre-optic ducts and communications interchanges to ensure that we can develop second generation broadband. The Government performance to date in the provision of second generation broadband stands condemned by recently published OECD statistics. Ireland has the fifth slowest Internet speed in the OECD. We are only better than Hungary, Poland, Turkey and Mexico. Ireland is 21st out of 30 OECD countries in the numbers of broadband users per 100 people and remains below the OECD average.

Fine Gael's recent jobs plan, which was acknowledged by Government and all economic commentators as a very good plan and which has not been essentially challenged, proposes that the new economic recovery agency would establish a new State company, Broadband 21, to amalgamate and build on the diverse telecommunications assets of existing State companies, including Bord Gáis, CIE, the ESB and MANs, to create a new generation broadband network. The key to a high speed broadband network is fibre cable, even if wireless solutions have a role, particularly in isolated rural areas. My party proposes that €2.5 billion will need to be expended over three years in building high speed fibre infrastructure. Eircom's capacity to invest in next generation broadband is a disappointment. Eircom's request last year for €150 million State investment was rejected. Eircom has a huge debt problem of €3.7 billion. The privatisation of Eircom has turned out to be a nightmare.

I refer to a disturbing aspect of the metropolitan area networks scheme. Under phase one of the scheme there are 27 urban centres. The scheme is working in those 27 centres and the management company is E-Net. MANS phase II has 60 urban centres, of which 59 are non-operational. MANS phase I is operational and is run by E-Net and MANS Phase II is non-operational because the management company, E-Net, has not yet been sanctioned. This has been the case since last summer. I am aware that the sanctioning of E-Net as the management company is imminent but this tardiness suggests a lack of urgency and a lack of awareness at governmental level of the critical importance of second generation broadband to Ireland's economic recovery. That is a disappointment. The total cost of the MANS programme is €80 million. This money has been left inactive since last summer and it would be criminal if it were left inactive for a further period.

I acknowledge the progress made in the provision of broadband to schools and some of the progress made by MANS. I also acknowledge the national broadband scheme as having correct objectives, although it is very slow in implementation and had a very checkered introduction.

I commend the Fine Gael amendment to the House on the grounds that the Government has not made adequate provision for second generation broadband and has not grasped its significance as the engine which will drive economic recovery in the future and create new sources of employment. The amendment is reasonable in the circumstances and I urge the Minister of State to reassure the House by injecting a level of urgency and impetus into the roll-out of broadband to the areas which do not have it yet and second generation broadband to the entire country.

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Fine Gael)
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I second the Fine Gael amendment to the motion. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. On many occasions since I became a Member of the House, Senators have called for debates on broadband infrastructure and information and communications technology. Next generation broadband will be essential in the economic recovery of Ireland. The amount of information being created, stored and transmitted digitally continues to expand at an exponential rate and future businesses will need high speed broadband services to continue to operate efficiently. Industries such as services and research are becoming more economically important to Ireland in the knowledge economy rather than the declining traditional industries. As a result, we need a new type of national infrastructure to meet the demands of these businesses. We need more than roads and bridges, we need fibre optic ducts, communications interchanges and the associated cabling and technologies.

It is appropriate to reflect on where Ireland is with regard to this technology and to gain a clear understanding of what broadband is, the penetration levels in this country and the quality of broadband where it is available. Northern Ireland has almost 100% broadband penetration. We compare very badly to that. Large areas of Ireland do not have broadband availability. That is an indictment of Government policy over many years and of failure to invest in this important technology.

There are many reasons for this failure. When Eircom was sold it was asset stripped and investment has not been made in the required areas. One need only drive through the countryside to see the state of standard telephone lines. I commend the ESB, whose networks and infrastructure are very modern. On the other hand, our telecommunications infrastructure, which was upgraded many times over a period of years, has suffered from lack of investment since the privatisation of Eircom. One sees telephone poles leaning on ditches and lines lying on the ground. That would not have happened 15 or 20 years ago, when Eircom was in State ownership. I see Senator Martin Brady nodding. I know he worked for Eircom, where there was a proud working tradition. It must disgust people like Senator Brady and many others who worked for Eircom to see the present state of the networks. Eircom needs to review its investment. Our country depends on proper communications technology. Rolling investment in infrastructure over many years is very important if we are to maintain an adequate standard for residents, businesses and communities.

Large areas of rural Ireland are not yet broadband enabled. This is partly because exchanges in the Eircom infrastructure have not been upgraded and telephone lines are not capable of connecting rural areas to broadband. As a result, we see the development of small businesses providing wireless broadband to rural areas. Without them many rural people would be isolated completely. I compliment a company which began as a small incubator business in Waterford Institute of Technology. A small number of graduate students saw an opportunity because the State was not providing broadband to rural areas. They put together the technology and developed a product called Alphawave Wireless Broadband. The company delivers broadband to hundreds, if not thousands, of houses and businesses in the south east of Ireland. People like that are to be complimented. They will probably be bought out by a larger company, which will pick the areas where there are opportunities and develop them further. These people, acting on their own initiative and investing in their education and in the available technology, are providing broadband, which the State should be doing.

Ireland has the fifth slowest Internet speed in the OECD. We are only better than Mexico, Turkey, Hungary and Poland. Yet, we consider ourselves a leading edge modern society with well developed technology. Our position among OECD countries is an indication of how undeveloped we are. Not only is availability of and access to broadband important, the quality of broadband is also important. The average download speed of broadband advertised in Ireland is 6,000 kilobits per second. In Japan, the world leader in the provision of broadband services, it is more than 92,846 kilobits per second. A student here, whether studying for the leaving certificate or a degree, takes ten times longer to download information from the Internet than a student in Japan. Businesses in Ireland are similarly handicapped. Slow, low quality broadband access places us at a serious disadvantage.

Government has invested in the metropolitan area networks, MANS. This investment was welcomed in many areas but accessibility and interconnection of those networks needs to be looked at. Further examination is required. Infrastructure, ducting and cabling has been installed in those metropolitan areas but access to the wider web is limited and costly compared to other countries. Although the infrastructure is available it is not interconnected with the worldwide web. Financially, there are no incentives for small businesses to connect to that infrastructure due to the high costs involved. Some countries, in an effort to incentivise business, offer free access or incentivised access to broadband. In this country, however, people are charged, which makes it unviable or unfeasible for them to operate on the networks provided.

There is much room for improvement in communications technology in this country. The Government, to a large degree, has let the country down by lack of investment, as has Eircom. It is only through proper, targeted and productive investment in these areas and the provision of proper broadband infrastructure that business and, in turn, the economy and society, will flourish.

Photo of Phil PrendergastPhil Prendergast (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent. I will not repeat what has been said already but I fully support the amendment. Despite the small improvements to broadband services there are still large parts of the country without access to broadband. I encountered an extraordinary level of frustration when I was canvassing recently among people living in rural areas in Tipperary who cannot access broadband. It has a huge effect.

People get frustrated when they see television advertisements offering great services in other countries at very competitive rates from different providers. During both the general election campaign and the more recent local elections a huge number of people expressed great frustration about this. I heard many uncomplimentary comments about the Irish provision of services. There is a feeling that Ireland is the worst country in Europe in terms of the delivery of broadband services.

The targets in the plan appear to be reasonable, but I am concerned about the aim to achieve 100% broadband access nationwide by including satellite and wireless providers. They provide a service that is adequate for most domestic users, but the two platforms are generally regarded as less reliable for business than a copper wire based service. A high bit rate fast DSL service delivered through existing copper wire telephone lines would probably work quite well. Members have proposed the establishment of another agency to co-ordinate broadband roll out. Such a proposal could be a problem in the current climate. It is already the job of the Minister and ComReg. The proposal of an agency to create a national broadband network could be used to take the heat off them when the targets are not achieved.

Broadband is significant and important infrastructure and top priority should be given to putting a system in place that will meet the country's ever-changing needs. It is needed by the many people who, for various reasons, are working from home, trying to maintain a business or to create a small or medium enterprise. They need the best services. We also need to attract jobs from abroad and to have a system in place that can compete favourably with other countries. It is a vital aspect of our communications strategy. The system we have at present is not working. At a time of recession it is vital that we have proper systems in place to meet the current needs.

Photo of Martin BradyMartin Brady (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent. There has been much emphasis, and rightly so, on broadband. I worked in the business sector before I became a Member of the House and I am aware that the first thing foreign investors ask about in this country is infrastructure such as roads and, most importantly, a good telecommunications system. If a country does not have a good telecommunications system, it will not secure foreign investment.

I worked in Telecom Éireann, and the company is now on its fifth owner. It was a mistake to sell Telecom Éireann for a pittance in the first place. I hope I do not sound ludicrous but I believe we should now nationalise Eircom and bring it back into State ownership. The four owners of the company to date took the money and ran. They took millions out of the company; some of them paid themselves as much as €3 million and €4 million per year. I do not believe anybody is worth that amount of money. In fact, there should be a ceiling on the salaries of people in chief executive positions of approximately €200,000 per year. If anybody cannot live on that amount, they must be doing something terribly wrong. Nobody is worth any more than that.

Broadband is important for the future of education. If the correct speed of broadband is available, Irish schools can link up with schools in other countries and link to programmes taking place in other schools. Unfortunately, broadband is not our only problem. We also have a problem with telecommunications in general. We are not up to speed in the level of service being provided to the public, business people, people who do remote working and people who are disabled. They do not receive an adequate service. As was mentioned by Senator Coffey, the infrastructure in this country is falling apart. Simple things such as poles and cables are not being properly maintained. If one's line is out of order, God knows when it will be fixed. There is not even priority for doctors or emergency services personnel.

The provision of appropriate broadband connections to schools is of particular importance. I do not see anything in the amendment proposed by Senator Joe O'Reilly that differs from what the Government is proposing other than the complaint that it is not being provided fast enough. That might be so but these things take time and the relevant research must be carried out.

Senator Larry Butler referred to sustainable energy. He has done a great deal of work on this. A great deal can be done to harness our rivers and lakes. This happened successfully in previous years throughout the country, particularly in my native Cavan, Monaghan and the surrounding area. There were corn mills in those counties that employed 50 to 60 people; there was plenty of business. The energy was generated from small streams and lakes. That infrastructure is still in place. It could be harnessed and up and running again at very little cost. It could be environmentally friendly.

In addition, we should return not necessarily to organic farming but to traditional farming, the old methods of farming. Everybody would be better off with that. I often think that good things can come from this recession or events that are perceived to be bad. Eventually, good comes out of that. We probably would not be discussing this issue if the country was not in a recession.

It was a scandal and disaster that Telecom Éireann was privatised. The fat cats ran away with everything and put nothing back. They are still around. It is a disgrace it was allowed to happen. What is wrong with nationalising Eircom? I believe it is the way to proceed.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Independent)
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I hope Senator Martin Brady's words do not carry to the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, and further. The Senator will be joining Mr. Joe Higgins MEP if he continues in that vein. I am sure it is not a particularly popular view on the Government benches but it is welcome to hear such fresh opinions from those benches and I congratulate the Senator on expressing them.

Photo of Martin BradyMartin Brady (Fianna Fail)
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Thank you.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Independent)
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I welcome the Fine Gael amendment. The issue of broadband has only recently been discovered in this House and I see very little evidence of it being debated in the other House. It is possibly the most important technological issue facing Ireland today. I find it difficult to approach this motion and the attitudes of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to it because I tabled two Bills in this House on broadband, one of which was rejected some months ago by the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for Energy, Communications and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan. It was a very modest, limited and inexpensive project that proposed the speedy roll-out of broadband and the acceleration of the process. The Minister rejected it even though the offer was made to him that, as proposers of the Bill, we on the Independent benches would be prepared to amend it to his liking if he were prepared to accept the simple principle of the Bill, namely, to accelerate broadband in this country as quickly as possible.

For some reason, the Houses of the Oireachtas are paralysed regarding this issue. It never excites any great interest and as far as I know the first time it was mentioned in a motion in this House was about three years ago. The issue is building up, partly because of constituency pressure. As a House, as a body and as representatives, once again we are very slowly in catching up with the demands and needs of people in this area. People can say all they like and hear all they want from the Government benches and we can talk about all the emerging broadband network projects and everything the Government is doing, but I shall take the anecdotal evidence first. That is the real evidence. All of us, day after day, particularly but not exclusively in rural areas, meet people who ask why, in the name of God, they cannot get broadband in their house or area. This reaction does not come necessarily from small or any businesses but from individuals scattered all over Ireland. What is happening is simply not adequate. It does not meet the needs of the people.

In his contribution Senator O'Reilly produced a figure of €2.5 billion for the cost of ducting. I do not know whether it is right or how much this will really cost, although I suggest the total cost will probably be somewhat more. In terms of the sums we have been asked to find recently, it is a very small amount of money and in terms of the return we will get, it is an absolutely minute amount of money. The Minister of State will be aware, as will everybody else in the House, of the €4 billion the Government must find immediately for Anglo Irish Bank. Presumably that will come, in part, from the €1 billion it got on the markets yesterday and the few billion euro it got earlier. It will come out of borrowings, from the NTMA and from the Pension Fund, which will be raided again simply and solely to throw down a hole. That sum will almost certainly go up to €7.5 billion, will probably reach €11 billion and may go a great deal higher when there will be what is termed the recapitalisation of the other banks. That simply means throwing money down a black hole. We do not know what the cost of recapitalisation will be but we know that sum will be a great deal more than what we will have to pay for broadband, if we get it going. We know we will get very little return, if any, on that money.

If one talks about broadband overseas, or even in Europe, people cannot understand how Ireland can be, or was, such an advanced prosperous nation when it has such primitive broadband. One of the great miracles of the booming economy of the time is that we did it without having adequate broadband facilities. We attracted all those multinationals without having adequate broadband facilities because we had a particularly attractive tax rate. The companies could live with the broadband inadequacies and locate in particular areas where they had broadband access. They tended to centre in towns and cities which was entirely counter to Government policy but IDA Ireland had to live with that.

I wonder what IDA Ireland will say when it tries to sell Ireland in current or future circumstances. It will not be able to offer competitive broadband facilities. Companies will say the corporate tax rate is good and they will come here for that, but there is no doubt the Irish corporate tax rate is under threat. If we do not have broadband to offer and do not have the corporate tax rate of 12.5% we will not have much to offer. I do not know what IDA Ireland will be able to sell.

That 12.5% tax rate is under threat for two reasons. First, in his very well signalled recent speeches, President Obama made it clear that the United States requires an increase in its tax take and countries involved in transfer pricing will be examined. Transfer pricing is a taboo subject here. We all know it is a rather dubious activity whereby one party prices goods at an arbitrary and subjective level to suit itself and ensure that the tax collected and the trade, register and location of deals suit that nation rather than any other.

I believe strongly that the European powers are looking every day at that 12.5% tax rate. I hope this message goes out, particularly in view of the new referendum on the Lisbon treaty. If Ireland shows signs of weakness, which we must do and are doing, that will become a negotiating weapon with Europe. I do not wish to paint an appalling scenario but it is important to point out that at present we are very dependent on the European Union and the European Central Bank for the survival of liquidity and the banks in this State. If Europe wishes to take a hard line on this and if we get into even more trouble and become more dependent on Europe, that pressure point will increase. I have no doubt that our so-called friends in Germany and France will be able to put pressure on that part of our economy and on those measures we take which they find offensive and inconvenient. Then we may be faced with a situation in which we can no longer sustain the 12.5% tax rate. That is a bit of a red herring but I wished to say it. It will leave us in a very vulnerable situation. Concerning broadband, Senator O'Reilly and other speakers told us where we stand in the league. If we are near the bottom of the European league at that stage we will have very little to offer.

It is timely to debate this. We should accelerate broadband roll-out and should spend money on it even if it has to be borrowed. Borrowed money, well spent, is worthwhile. Borrowed money, disposed of and thrown after the banks down a black hole, is a completely different matter.

Photo of Brian Ó DomhnaillBrian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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Having listened to some other Members, I note broadband is the core element raised in the discussion on the ICT sector. Ireland has a very strong ICT sector. In generic terms, there are 210 foreign-owned ICT companies in Ireland, including most of the global leaders such as Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Dell, Google and others. Other companies are considering Ireland as a potential location. There are approximately 600 indigenous software companies whose activities include financial services, security, gaming, health care and educational solutions. This represents a massive turnover for the Irish economy, amounting to approximately €50 billion.

The sector accounts for half of the total Irish business investment in research and development. The Government allocated approximately €8.2 billion for research and development in 2006 for the period 2006 to 2013. ICT will be the largest sector benefiting from this investment. Significant sums will also be spent on sustainable energy and research.

Many of the approaches to sustainability that are outlined by the Government's paper require high-speed broadband and appropriate digital content. Broadband is crucial to regional development and to making Ireland a competitive location for attracting foreign direct investment and ICT-linked companies.

The national broadband scheme, benefiting from the funding for next generation broadband, accounts for approximately €220 million. Great work has been done to make progress on the scheme and the project was put out to tender. Two companies tendered and one was successful. A contractual agreement for approximately 18 months is in place and extends from the end of December 2008 to the end of September of 2010. I am not sure whether any of the work has begun on the ground yet, nor am I sure whether the company awarded the contract, Hutchinson 3G, has started any of the work. Many parts of the country are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the work. There are many areas with no broadband availability at present. It is a failing on the part of Eircom and other providers not to provide broadband to all areas of the country. Just because there may be insufficient critical mass does not mean companies such as Eircom, which have been given State assistance, cannot treat all areas and all people equally. Someone in a rural area deserves the same service as someone in an urban area.

The importance of ICT and sustainable development are underlined by the European Commission's recent communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled "Addressing the challenge of energy efficiency through Information and Communication Technologies".

A number of innovative projects are under way in Ireland or are under active consideration. Ireland has always had an active renewable energy generation programme focusing on wind energy. Ireland has an island economy and our European neighbours view us as one of the best countries in Europe for wind energy generation, both on land and offshore. Energy generation from waves and tidal streams must also be borne in mind. The White Paper on energy calls for 33% generation of electricity from these variable sources by 2012. Grid integration of such a high ratio of variable energy sources requires smart solutions. Work has already commenced on a variation of a smart-grid approach which aims at enhancing the ability of the grid to accept more diverse energy sources, such as renewable and micro-generated energy, at minimum cost while maintaining the same, or enhanced, reliability or performance standards. One of the key objectives of the scheme is to identify the smartest locations on the grid to connect for renewable energy. This is linked to the area of ICT and to meeting the White Paper objectives of creating one third of our electricity from the aforesaid sources by 2020.

In addition to realising benefits in the transport and flexi-work area and adopting a range of energy efficiency measures, Ireland is planning a state-of-the-art sensor-mediated environmental-marine research programme, SmartBay. This programme will provide new information on marine ecosystems and will be instrumental in predicting changes to the north Atlantic drift. Flagship infrastructure includes deep-water sensor array tended by a remotely operated vehicle and a floating test and demonstration unit. Wireless elements of this include a directional wave rider located at the ocean energy test site. In addition, a tide gauge network and a hydrodynamic modelling system are included in the wireless system. A fibre-optic system will be located in Galway Bay linking the shore to an underwater hub. This will provide crucial information, especially to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on tidal patterns. It will prove to be key to the fishing industry, in particular, in that it will indicate shoal patterns. Anyone linked to the salmon industry is told salmon shoal patterns are changing and the salmon are not entering Irish waters but remaining in deeper waters. The new system will provide fishermen and the Department with crucial information.

The provision of broadband on the island is key in the ICT sector. Reference was made to broadband availability in the North. A higher percentage of people may have broadband in the North by comparison with here but I am not sure of its quality. The national broadband scheme, as proposed, will be vital to meeting the broadband needs of the Republic. The Government should not allow companies such as Eircom to walk away and hide from the scheme given that their responsibility is to their customers. Senator Brady called for the re-nationalisation of Eircom. This could prove productive but, even without doing so, the company must honour its obligations. In this regard, it must be taken to task by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in respect of fulfilling its commitment to develop the hubs in various small towns nationally.

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House and support the amendment of my colleague, Senator O'Reilly. I was in secondary school when I began to understand how to debate and speak in public and did so through my debating class. My teacher used to give me the tip that it is good to begin a speech with a personal anecdote of some kind to show one is engaged with one's subject and to try to gain the attention of one's audience. Therefore, I will take a brave gamble in this debate and begin with a personal anecdote to illustrate a broader political point. I must declare my prejudices from the start. I am an absolute gadget nerd, I love technology and I use it all the time. Its effect on personal development and effectiveness is magnificent.

I was slow to come to the phenomenon of Twitter, a service about which I am sure Senators will have heard that users use to communicate with other people via messages of 140 characters or fewer. Nine months ago, before I was distracted by other matters, I decided to establish a presence on Twitter and connect with people in new ways. As a complete nerd, I first asked myself who I should seek out first. I did not choose Senator Daly, although I may get around to contacting him later this evening. The first person I looked for was Mr. Tom Watson who at that time was the minister in the British Government with responsibility for the digital society. Mr. Watson recently left office because, I understand, he was involved in certain political machinations which went beyond his ministerial portfolio. Having looked him up, I sent him a message to which he responded within about five seconds. He stated it was great to see an Irish politician taking an interest and broadcasting across the water and we then engaged in dialogue for a few minutes on the effect of technology on politics. When I mentioned in a message that I had become interested in new technology through reading a particular book, he replied immediately inviting me to join him at dinner that evening with the author of the book in question. I had to decline his offer as Senator Cummins, as a party Whip, would not permit my absence and my wife was loth to have me travel to the United Kingdom at short notice to attend a dinner.

I raise this personal anecdote to illustrate the broader point that governments in other countries are leaps ahead of our Government in embracing new technologies. Senator Butler referred to the smart economy document published by the Government at the end of last year to show how economic recovery could be led by technologies such as those referred to in the debate. Having taken time to read the entire document, I found it among the most dispiriting Government publications I have read recently. It contained little that was new and where issues were notable or different, the document did not provide deadlines or timetables for delivery or mechanisms by which people could be held accountable. The Minister may quibble and argue that the document bundled a range of important issues but he cannot deny its complete absence of accountability.

The contrast between the Government's position and the positions adopted by other countries is notable. Earlier this week, the British Government published the Digital Britain report, its road map for economic recovery through the use of digital technologies. I examined the document while preparing for this debate and was stunned by the scope of the issues considered and timetable for realising them. The final report details areas for legislative change, highlighting intellectual property protection, a broadband universal service commitment, public service content and action that can be taken in the areas of video games and radio. It also includes a detailed plan by Government departments indicating when various actions will be implemented. The other most telling aspect of the report is the commitment and culture surrounding it.

I noted while browsing a website earlier this week that a road show will travel to the North this week to meet members of local authorities and politicians and explain the role of Northern Ireland in realising the recommendations of the Digital Britain report. Having been published just this week, road shows are already under way in the various regions of the United Kingdom aimed at explaining what is required to achieve the report's objectives. Published by Lords Mandelson and Carter, Digital Britain is a high quality document which embraces technology.

While broader questions may arise regarding the use of a Minister's time in responding to messages sent using the Twitter service, my point stands regarding the manner in which new technology has been embraced in Britain and the willingness of people there to engage with it. Before retiring to the back benches, perhaps to ponder the future of his party, the Minister, Mr. Tom Watson, published a report by the power of information task force. Its recommendations, which focus on creating employment by using technology, are stunning in the scope of their ambition and in the minimal cost of implementing many of them. They include a proposal that the Ordnance Survey make available on the Internet all information available to it to enable it to be used by members of the public and commercial entities. It also recommends that the Chief Scientific Adviser's Committee make data mashing a Government priority. While I am not sure what such a process involves, I am stunned to find these recommendations at the core of the British Government's plans. It also highlights how little progress Ireland has made in the use of information technology and underscores the crying shame that is the lack of broadband delivery across this country.

I encourage Senators to read a report published by the Institute of International and European Affairs entitled The Next Leap: A Competitive Ireland in the Digital Era. The broad scope of its recommendations is a move in the right direction. The report refers to branding Ireland as a green data centre location and recommends establishing niche exploration groups to examine small areas of technology which could be exploited for high commercial return and employment. It also outlines how the leaving certificate could be changed and the digital curriculum quickly rolled out at primary level. While money is scarce, the money invested in implementing these recommendations would soon be justified in terms of the commercial and social return secured. The enthusiasm with which technology has been embraced by other governments puts the Irish Government to shame.

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has heavily invested in information and communications research. Science Foundation Ireland has provided funding of more than €500 million in information and communications technology, ICT, since 2000 and will continue to prioritise such research. The output of skilled researchers is vital to the future of the country's ICT industry. The strategy for science, technology and innovation, for which I am responsible, recognises the importance of research in new technologies in the ICT area.

Ireland has a strong and highly innovative information and communications technology industry. This is an important strength which is relevant to the development of Ireland as a smart economy. Some 210 foreign owned ICT companies are located here, including most of the global leaders, for instance, Microsoft, Intel, Google, Apple, Facebook, EMC and others. Despite the negative overtones to the previous speaker's contribution, these companies continue to invest in Ireland and embed their investment by backing it up with research and development investments. Clearly there is an appetite among foreign companies which invest here to reinvest resources precisely because we have tripled expenditure in research and development in the past ten years, at Government, university and, most important, private sector level.

The Government prompts and funds about one third of expenditure on research and development, with the balance of two thirds provided by the private sector. Public sector investment is vital because it is the seed capital which prompts the private sector to do more. Ireland was highly successful in attracting multinational ICT manufacturers, which formed the first wave of ICT companies. After the Government made the crucial investment in the transatlantic fibre optic cable, Global Crossing, we had the necessary infrastructure in place to attract the subsequent wave of ICT companies, which includes Google and Facebook.

I omitted to mention that Ireland has 660 indigenous software companies ranging in activity from financial services, security, gaming and animation to health care and educational solutions. We have evolved a highly sophisticated ICT sector ranging from the global leaders to the indigenous competitors and players.

We are continuing to invest in the telecommunications network and I and my Department will shortly publish our policy paper on the next generation of broadband. The Government is investing €80 million in the national broadband scheme which will involve overall investment of some €220 million and will ensure Internet access throughout the country. The uptake of broadband continues to increase rapidly and 43% of households now use broadband compared with just 3% in 2004.

My Department has recently published a spectrum policy paper for consideration and will publish a final paper later this year. Meanwhile, ComReg is consulting on the opportunities that will arise when we switch from analogue to digital television in 2012. The freed up spectrum will support the development of new telecommunications and broadcasting products and approaches.

In 2008, my Department was given the responsibility for the knowledge society and we will publish in the next few weeks the first action plan on technologies to support the smart economy. Building Ireland's smart economy underlines the strategy of Ireland in developing its economy via low carbon approaches and high technology uptake. This is logical taking into account Ireland's dependence on imported fossil fuel and our commitment to lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.

We also face the fabled leap up the value chain in the next few years. This is something we would have had to do irrespective of whether we were in recession. We would have had to jump or make the great leap to produce more higher value manufacture and services, whether for export or for servicing domestic consumption. That is a significant challenge, at the heart of which is the smart economy document published by the Taoiseach in December last and being developed and rolled out by line Ministers and the Government as a whole, principally through the Cabinet Sub-committee on Economic Recovery of which I am the only Minister of State to be a member.

A good example is the development of the smart electricity networks grid. We are following an integrated approach involving smart meters, electric vehicles and the optimum use of ICT to ensure a smart generation and transmission of electricity. Ireland has a target of 42% integration of renewable energy into our grid by 2020. This is the highest target anywhere in the European Union and to succeed we will need to develop the smartest grid in the world. I am confident we will achieve this challenge and in doing so, we will develop world leading expertise which we can also export.

Ireland is a world leader in a technology related to the transfer of images and data using coloured light, what is called tunable laser technology, which requires significantly less energy than current technology. It also allows fibre-optic data to be transferred at much higher speeds and much more efficiently. The images and data are transferred in an ultra-fast manner with state-of-the-art quality.

This technology will underpin new advances such as mobile television, interactive video and a range of other technologies. Ireland has been granted worldwide patents relating to this technology and my Department, together with the development agencies, is working with the inventors of this technology, Intune Networks, with a view to developing a world-first communications network in this area. This is truly ground-breaking stuff. The promoters of this company, Intune Networks, set themselves the objective of becoming the Irish version of Nokia, whose impact on the development of the then challenged Finnish economy is well known. This will give Ireland a great advantage of having the first such network, which will attract worldwide industry to Ireland to develop and trial their products on this unique network.

We are also considering the establishment of an international content services centre which would allow Irish and international content owners in film, video, music and multimedia to distribute their content in a fair and equitable manner.

We are also aiming to establish Ireland as an energy efficient world centre for data and what is described as cloud computing centres. In the future most computers and company data systems will be housed externally in such centres. These centres will support international and European headquarters activity. This is where much of the innovation in the ICT sector is occurring at present.

We have developed a concept of intelligent travel and workflow where commuters will be able to pick the most rapid commuting time to and from work. This will lead to significant increases in work efficiency and a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.

We have developed a pilot real-time ecosystem and marine monitoring system called SmartBay with the aid of advanced communication technology.

We are promoting the use of ICT in energy efficiency. A good example is where smart heaters coupled with motion sensors lead to high energy savings in the home and workplace. An Irish company called Glen Dimplex is the world leader in this technology.

We are promoting Ireland as a test bed for trial and further development of new products. Our size and young educated population, the availability of test and trial licences from ComReg and our planned advanced communications network make Ireland an ideal centre for such activity.

I have presented examples and approaches of how ICT technology can support Ireland's development as a smart economy, a sustainable low carbon economy where we will develop and export products based on our own ideas and creativity.

We must look beyond the current recession. We must plan now in terms of the imbedded investment we make in science and technology and our ability to innovate and be creative about the solutions we produce in the technology space. This is a significant challenge for Ireland. Nobody ever said it would be easy. We knew before the current downturn happened that we would face this challenge.

Over the past ten years we saw the departure of certain classes of manufacture to other cheap low labour cost locations. We knew this was coming and we planned for it accordingly. The Government followed a policy which was believed on a cross-party basis over the ten years that we needed to upskill our people and move to the production of higher value-added manufacture and services. It is not easy to re-tool an entire population. According to Forfás's studies, there are 300,000 people in Ireland who left school without the leaving certificate. Those are the people we need to target in the years ahead, particularly now that we are in recession and unemployment is rising. We need to target those people so that they will get access to state-of-the-art training and the knowledge that adds to ability to progress in the new forms of employment that will come in the years ahead. This will not be easy and I suspect that no matter who was in government, they would face a difficult challenge in this area. However, we would point out on the positive side that only 300,000 people are in that position of not being skilled up or trained for the type of economy we are describing.

How important the area of science and technology is to all this effort is dramatised by the fact that 40% of the inward investment gains we made this year and 43% of the inward investment gains we made last year were directly related to research and development in technology. We can see the future now in the profile of companies and the types of investments we are managing to bring to Ireland in these difficult times. One of the positive aspects of this is that by placing such emphasis on research and development and by pitching ourselves as a knowledge economy of the future, we in Ireland are able to imbed much of the inward investment of recent years. That is the evidence from companies such as Facebook. Such companies are imbedding and I hope in the future the companies we managed to attract over the past ten to 20 years which intend to stay here will do so because they have made a strategic investment decision to locate their research and development facilities here and to use Ireland, not just as a gateway to the European market in terms of the raw production or transfer of products and services into the euro currency zone or the wider European market, but also as a beneficial location within which they can situate leading edge research and attract people from their companies globally to come to live and work to produce and create in Ireland.

In many respects Ireland's advantages are enviable in this respect. A strong ecosystem is being constructed at present around innovation in the area of science and technology. Our universities are increasingly focusing their efforts on translating the academic and intellectual work of PhD students, scientists and technologists to hard product in terms of patents and discovered new inventions.

All the figures are available to prove this. Over the past five years there has been an effective doubling of the number of patents, spin-outs and new discoveries by way of new inventions by our university third level sector. That is directly as a result of the imbedded spend that we started ten years ago. As I stated, the research and development spend has tripled in the past ten years and we are now beginning to reap the rewards of the imbedded investment.

We must now go forward to 2013 and hopefully achieve the target we have set ourselves of improving the 1.66% of GDP spend on research and development to 2.5% by 2013. That will be a major challenge, not least because other countries, including the United States, South Korea and Israel are already ahead of us and are pledging to go well ahead of where they currently are. Some countries, including Israel, already spend 5% of their GDP on research and development and that explains many of the demonstrable industrial successes such as research and development, higher value added services, software and other areas Israel has achieved in recent years.

South Korea has committed to increasing by 10% every year the figure it spends on research and development for the next number of years. It aims to achieve figures of 4% or 5%. We are aiming for 2.5%, but should the economy come out the other end of the current difficulties of the recession and international downturn, we should look for even more ambitious targets in the area of research and development because our universities are in favour of it.

UCD and Trinity College announced recently that they will scale up their efforts, spin outs, PhDs, commercialism and participation in PhDs, especially in science and technology, and will create conditions for participation in those with strong business or commercially focused inputs into PhD training courses. That is an important part of this initiative so we can maximise, optimise and fully realise the potential of highly intelligent individuals in the area of science and technology and harness such intelligence for commercial and attainable gain by way of a patent and product that can ultimately be sold to the public in Ireland or abroad.

We have a very strong future in this area. We have a population that is well equipped for the challenge. However, we have a significant problem in what is described as the "pipeline" in our schools and universities. Only 16% of those who take the leaving certificate opt for higher level mathematics, which is a small number compared with other countries across Europe and the world. One would imagine those who take the subject are high achievers, but the reality of the results in higher level mathematics show a different story and despite the fact that a very small elite number of people take the subject, they are not high achievers within the scores they achieve in the leaving certificate.

It is presenting a significant problem as we try to move up the value chain in terms of the challenge we face competitively with the goods and services we export and produce. We have a significant problem in schools. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe - I am also a Minister of State in his Department - will role out project maths from September. We need to look creatively at other things we, as a Government, a society, parents and citizens, can do to encourage more people to take up mathematics and science related subjects and how we can improve the results and teaching in this area.

Many, perhaps the majority, of those who teach mathematics in secondary schools are not fully qualified in it to deliver the teaching required, which is a significant issue we have to address. It is not just a question of getting more volume or people taking higher level mathematics through the system, but there is also a challenge to improve the quality of those who come out the other end after the leaving certificate.

Some universities and inward investors are privately very concerned about the standard of the university graduate we produce in the area of mathematics and science. Yesterday I spoke to people in NUI Maynooth who expressed great worries and concerns about the measures they have to take to improve the quality of computational and mathematical ability of graduates already on mathematics and science courses. They are investing a lot of their time in improving the quality of the people coming in so they can respond to the courses in which they have enrolled. That illustrates the challenges we face. They say they must take these measures to improve the quality of the people they produce with degrees in the subjects and areas to which I referred. The answer is to go back to primary and secondary level and improve the results there because we cannot expect universities endlessly to provide extra tuition or training to people who have already qualified for a particular course. It is a challenge. I look forward to hearing what Members have to say.

Photo of Joe O'TooleJoe O'Toole (Independent)
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It is difficult to listen to this level of "make it up as you go along" comments from the Minister of State, Deputy Lenihan. He is living in a different world. I will give him some examples-----

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of information, the Senator was not in the House for my speech.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption.

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I resent his remarks. I thought very carefully about what I said and I object to that kind of glib remark about making it up as I go along.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption.

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Senator O'Toole is one of the greatest exponents of that.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption.

Photo of Joe O'TooleJoe O'Toole (Independent)
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I thought the Minister of State did not like that kind of remark. I heard every word he said.

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am responding to the bluster.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption, please.

Photo of Joe O'TooleJoe O'Toole (Independent)
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I felt I should come to the House and explain a few things to the Minister of Sate, such as cloud computing, which he discussed in an off-hand manner. I use cloud computing wherever I can get broadband. My problem is I live 16 miles from here and cannot get broadband. That is one difficulty we need to talk about. While the issues of mathematics, teaching and teachers' qualifications have been before the Government for ten years, the Minister of State has come to the House and told us he is looking at it now.

We can go through all the other issues mentioned in the Minister of State's speech. He discussed how advanced we are regarding renewables. Only 3% of our energy output comes from renewables. The Minister of State spent a lot of time telling us what we need to do about research and development. I will tell him about "scaling up research and development" in renewables. Last year, people in Galway and UCC who are working on wave energy were passed out in research and development by Scotland because they do not get the support from Government for the development of Wavebob and other initiatives. That is a reality.

They are now on a-----

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of information, Wavebob is funded by State agencies.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption.

Photo of Conor LenihanConor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I was down there yesterday talking to the promoters who are very grateful for the assistance they are receiving. Let us stick to the facts.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator O'Toole, without interruption.

Photo of Joe O'TooleJoe O'Toole (Independent)
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I assure the Minister of State I have been down to Wavebob more than once and spoken to the people there. They have been fighting for support. They have been passed out by Pelamis in Scotland in wave energy, which is already connected to the grid there and is powering thousands of homes in north-west Scotland while we are sitting on the greatest wave energy resource in western Europe and are not harnessing it. That is a fact the Minister of State should take with him and think about.

Senator Butler referred to west coast local authority areas. The next time the Minister of State is in the west he should have a chat with the local authority in Mayo. It is pleading with the Government to change the legislation so it can make available to the rest of the country its plans for harnessing wave energy and tidal energy and build a 500 MW output wave energy farm in Bellacorick. All that depends on decisions being taken by the Government which are not being taken. Let us get real and look at what is really going on.

The climate change committee of this House was the first to produce a Bill which had all-party support and it presented it to the Government. It was to ensure issues such as wave energy, offshore energy farms and energy generators of all types could be brought ashore. They cannot currently be brought ashore because there are difficulties about who owns the foreshore, who is entitled to develop it, planning and many other issues. The Government is sitting on the issue.

The Minister of State referred to advances in research and development. This week the UK Government decided to make advances in photovoltaic solar panels. It is the way forward, just as wave energy is. Ireland is the best placed country in Europe to take advantage of photovoltaic solar panels. What support is the Government, through Sustainable Energy Ireland or any other agency, giving to the development of photovoltaic panels in this country, a source from which we can be assured on a bright day we would be able to obtain energy which in turn could be fed into the energy grid system, which is crucially important?

The Minister of State spoke about the smart metering experiment which is due to begin at the end of next month having been promised for three or four years. I am delighted, as one of those who asked for this, that it is finally going to happen. This should come into play with the support of micro-generation use by households so that photovoltaic generators on the roofs of Irish houses can feed into the energy system.

The Spirt of Ireland scheme while a good idea is nothing knew. The problem with it, in terms of its presentation, is that it is not necessary to do all that is suggested. The wind energy aspect of the Spirit of Ireland scheme could be commenced tomorrow morning. This would help to deal with the storage issue. Other projects that could assist with the storage issue are the development of electric cars, the most efficient storage mechanism available, and the interconnector bridge. We do not have to wait until enormous hydroelectric lakes are built in order to make this work. The three interconnectors - one to the North of Ireland and two across the Irish Sea - when in place will ensure we can at all times export our excess energy. There is a huge amount that we can and must do.

As regards broadband, the reality is that we have dropped down the scale. The European figures show that in terms of advances in broadband we are way behind. We are also falling behind in terms of next generation broadband. These points are being made on a weekly basis by delegations attending the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security. The fact is that we are way behind in terms of storage. We have not yet had a debate in regard to how we would use micro-generation or how we can take advantage of tidal energy in places such as Achill Sound, Blasket Sound and the Shannon estuary. Approximately four or five knots of water flow at least twice a day on the tides in all of these places. The same is true of parts of the Irish Sea. These are issues that can be addressed. The reality is that most tidal and wave energy is silent and does not affect navigation. While wave energy may affect it, tidal energy does not. Much depends on how it is harnessed.

There is much to be done. I hope the Minister of State has some understanding of where I am coming from on this issue. I have spent many years speaking on this issue, trying to get Government interested in it. We have fallen behind in research and development and in terms of progress. While I support the efforts of Sustainable Energy Ireland, SEI, it took it a long time to support the development of wind generation domestically. Many of the difficulties in terms of dealing with planning related to domestic generation of more than ten kilowatts have not yet been addressed. There are decisions that could be taken by Government tomorrow morning in terms of the Foreshore Act, connecting to the grid, micro-generation and wave and tidal energy. The classic example is Wavebob which the Minister of State visited. The Polamis project off the west coast of Scotland is currently connected. We should have been ahead in this regard. Just as we have fallen behind in terms of broadband we have fallen behind in terms of the development of wave energy.

There is much that can be done. The Minister of State should ask the Mayo county manager what are the delays in establishing the 500 megawatt wind energy for Bellacorick. As the Minister of State well knows, 500 megawatts would be one tenth of our peak demand and this could be produced in a couple of fields in Mayo. There is a great deal we could do tomorrow morning.

Every third level institution in this country should be undertaking research and development of nitrogen fuel, which is the future. There are already in existence nitrogen cars yet we are doing no work in this regard. The Minister of State said we have many bright people. We should be giving them work to do on research and development and should provide fellowships in every one of our colleges in order to make this happen. There is a great deal that can be done. We have fallen well and truly behind in many of the areas referred to by the Minister of State.

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senator O'Toole said that decisions have to be made and that we could make it all happen tomorrow morning. Of course, if we made it all happen tomorrow morning we would then be accused of riding roughshod over every law in the country. While I agree with him on the issue of foreshore licences, a particular problem in Kerry, decisions have been made.

Senator Donohoe stated he spoke of Twitter many moons ago. One would think we had made no progress in this area. In a by-election in Kerry in 1966 - I am sure Senator O'Toole was canvassing for one side or the other - a Minister, while canvassing outside a church in Barradubh, promised he would have a telephone box installed in the area. The newly elected Member as a result of that by-election was former Deputy John O'Leary who had to deliver the phone box. In 1966 a ministerial order was required for the provision of a phone box in the village of Barradubh. Today, one can purchase a phone in any shop. That is how far we have come. I accept, however, that we can do a lot better. It is great that Senator O'Toole was, while walking around the House, able to listen to the contribution of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan. I fear had he not heard it, he would have rebutted it ad nauseam anyway.

On broadband, mobile phone technology and all other technologies, often such technologies once installed become obsolete because of improvements in this area by the day or even the hour. Senator O'Toole spoke about renewable energy and the possibilities in this regard, which he states are endless. However, people's rights must be taken into account. A particular renewable energy that is coming to Ireland and was launched only last month by Governor Schwarzenegger is the micro-fueler, which is being promoted by Mr. Thomas Quinn. The micro-fueler is a home ethanol producing system, a highly technical piece of equipment into which one puts raw ethanol which then turns to pure ethanol for use in one's car. This raw ethanol can be found in waste beer and is a by-product of fruit and algae. It can revolutionise our form of transport. No longer will we have to rely on fuel or oil from the Far East, the Middle East, Africa and Central America; we will be able to produce our own. This can be done if we manage to crack how to produce raw ethanol from algae. As Senator O'Reilly knows we have plenty of bogs all over the midlands and in Kerry. One acre of ground, which produces 500 litres of ethanol from maize could produce 5,000 litres of ethanol from algae. This, sold on to the owners of micro-fuelers, would supply all our petrol and diesel requirements. We have so many bogs cut out that we could become an exporter of ethanol. These are possibilities that along with the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, we are discussing with Bord na Móna which has set aside €100 million to invest in new technology and new forms of fuel. It has many bogs in which it cannot even grow trees and as such are wastelands. We can turn algae into fuel.

Earlier today I raised my concerns about mobile telephone masts with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley. The Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources of the 29th Dáil recommended that masts should not be located beside hospitals or schools. I am sure many Senators have listened to families expressing their heartfelt concerns about this issue. There is growing evidence on the link between brain tumours and mobile telephones. Over the past ten years, which is the maximum latency period for tumours, mobile telephone usage has increased significantly.

We must be careful even as we encourage and embrace technology, although if Senator O'Toole had his way we would ride roughshod over safety and health concerns. His points in regard to rural broadband access were, however, valid. In Kenmare, 100 people had to be signed up to broadband before Eircom would supply a service. Milltown in County Kerry is not yet fully supplied with broadband. These issues will be addressed in the fullness of time and we will soon be able to provide world class broadband services to the entire country.

Photo of John Gerard HanafinJohn Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the debate has digressed from the content of the motion. In the past several years, new businesses and industries have been created due to the Internet, information technology and mobile telephony. Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Google and e-mail are examples of how new technologies have changed our lives. However, we are only scratching the surface of the possibilities of these new technologies. For example, fishermen in India who heretofore may have thrown fish overboard because they did not know whether to travel north or south to sell their catches can now ring their onshore contacts to determine where they can get the best prices.

People can use their mobile telephones to get directions through Google Maps or check their e-mail accounts. For those who are interested in maps and mapping, Google is available over the earth. This has created difficulties for repressive regimes such as North Korea because people can view the labour camps and lavish palaces of those who supposedly govern the country in the name of the people. President Obama's campaigners made good use of Google Maps in identifying areas which had previously been canvassed.

It is ironic that just over 50 years ago one of the people responsible for the first IBM computer predicted it would be too expensive to build more than two computers. In fact, practically everything we possess, whether telephones or televisions, have the chips and necessary support to ensure we can communicate better.

This Government realises the need to turn Ireland into a leading knowledge based economy. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, it has ensured our tax regime allows for extra spending on research and development. Indeed, even though the last budget was one of the most difficult in the past 50 years, it nonetheless increased the tax credits available for research and development from 20% to 25%. We will create secure and highly qualified employment through research and development. Our corporation tax rate and outreach efforts have persuaded Google and Facebook to establish operations in Ireland. We must encourage other firms to expand or locate operations in Ireland. In the past decade, the amount spent in this economy on research and development has tripled. That is a positive trajectory given that the most progressive economies, such as Israel, Singapore and the United States, all spend high percentages of their GDP on research and development. We are currently spending 1.66% of GDP in this area and our current trajectory indicates we will meet the Government's target of 2.5% of GDP by 2013. The amount we spend will undoubtedly inspire others because we are a beneficiary of foreign direct investment.

Senator Butler is promoting the excellent Spirit of Ireland project, which is being developed from the ground up by people who are giving their free time to help the nation and provide sustainable energy. The project has practical application to our natural resources. A number of Senators have made useful comments in this regard, including the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Conor Lenihan. His contribution was not off the cuff and it would be somewhat foolhardy for anybody to assume he would speak in that manner.

7:00 am

Photo of Jim WalshJim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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We have had an interesting debate. The comments of Senator Donohoe and others regarding Twitter highlight the need to create awareness in this area if we are to reap the benefits.

I remind Members that €80 million was spent in 2008 as part of an overall investment package of €220 million for broadband services. Significant improvements have been made and, while everyone would acknowledge that more must be done, we should also recognise that we have a dispersed and largely rural based population. It is essential, therefore, that we develop wireless broadband in addition to fixed line services. I am aware, however, there are shortcomings to wireless broadband.

These issues are perhaps not as new as we think. As a small child in the 1950s I recall spending time with my grandparents and an uncle by marriage John Doran, who had his own windmill in the days before rural electrification reached his part of south County Carlow. The windmill produced electricity for his house and charged his neighbours' wireless batteries. He always kept a large inventory of batteries under his stairs. He was a talented man who was ahead of his time and his genius was evident to the community in which he lived. That micro approach to energy generation and renewable energy is something we should encourage and not lose sight of in our attempts to address the question of the macro initiatives needed in this area.

The Opposition may have lost sight of the thrust of the motion. It was not about the narrow issue of broadband or any other such narrow point but to integrate the information and communications technology with our energy initiatives, especially renewable energy, and our need to cut our CO2 emissions. That challenge presents us with an opportunity for a great deal of job creation in the future.

In his comprehensive address to the House the Minister of State dealt with the smart economy area and what has been done in the areas of smart electricity, smarter homes, smarter travel and the sensors which will assist people to commute at the optimum times in terms of their jobs and therefore have a very beneficial effect on our CO2 emissions. Video-conferencing will be a huge component in terms of where we are heading in this area. All of that will bring about a substantial benefit in reducing our CO2 emissions but will also ensure we are well placed in the smart economy area for the future development of our country in terms of job creation and our economy.

I listened to some of the comments made on the other side of the House. The Government has invested €8.2 billion in research and development. That is done to attract private sector investment in research and development. The entire area is very high-risk capital and therefore inducements are needed for the private sector to participate. The Government has done that rather wisely. I have no doubt that will bring its rewards in time but as I said earlier, the real challenge for Government and for all of us will be to ensure the successes we achieve in research and development are implemented here at home which will ensure the downstream jobs and the development of the entire area will accrue to this economy and not elsewhere. That is a challenge for us and a challenge to our competitiveness.

We face another challenge in this area. I noted in the weeks I was campaigning that there were many messages, not only for us as a Government and a party but also for politics in general. One of them was the disenchantment with the partisanship which exists, particularly in the Lower House but also as it manifested itself tonight in the Upper House in the way we approach these issues. The challenge we face is to work constructively to assist in building the foundations and the platform for the next economic resurgence, and an especially important component of that vision is that we make Ireland a world leader in ICT and in the renewable energy field. I would like us all to share the vision set out by Government and work together in Ireland's interest constructively and without the kind of partisan politics which may have a place in certain debates but have no place in us trying to position ourselves to ensure future generations of young people will have an economy in which they can fully participate, get jobs and build careers and achieve successes for future generations.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is the amendment being pressed?

Photo of Joe O'ReillyJoe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Amendment put.

The Dail Divided:

For the motion: 19 (Paul Bradford, Paddy Burke, Jerry Buttimer, Ciarán Cannon, Paudie Coffey, Paul Coghlan, Maurice Cummins, Paschal Donohoe, Frances Fitzgerald, Dominic Hannigan, Fidelma Healy Eames, Nicky McFadden, Rónán Mullen, David Norris, Joe O'Reilly, Joe O'Toole, Eugene Regan, Shane Ross, Brendan Ryan)

Against the motion: 23 (Martin Brady, Larry Butler, Ivor Callely, John Carty, Donie Cassidy, Maria Corrigan, Mark Daly, Geraldine Feeney, John Gerard Hanafin, Cecilia Keaveney, Terry Leyden, Marc MacSharry, Brian Ó Domhnaill, Labhrás Ó Murchú, Francis O'Brien, Denis O'Donovan, Fiona O'Malley, Ned O'Sullivan, Ann Ormonde, Kieran Phelan, Jim Walsh, Mary White, Diarmuid Wilson)

Tellers: Tá, Senators Maurice Cummins and Joe O'Reilly; Níl, Senators Labhrás Ó Murchú and Diarmuid Wilson.

Amendment declared lost.

Motion put and agreed to.