Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 294: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has reviewed the European Commission's 12th annual report on the telecoms sector which ranks Ireland 16th out of 25th for broadband take-up and with the highest monthly line rental charges across Europe; the measures he will put in place to address this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13943/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I have reviewed a copy of the EU Commission's 12th report on the EU's telecom markets. I note the report's finding concerning Ireland that "broadband penetration is still below the EU-25 average, but has improved substantially." I would like to point out that the speed of take-up of broadband in Ireland is extraordinary. The data used by the Commission for the report shows that the rate of growth in broadband in Ireland was running at 105% per annum (to Q3 2006) while the rate of growth for the EU-25 was only 32%. This means that Ireland is actually growing three times faster than the EU-25.

The latest official figures from the Communications Regulation (ComReg) which were released last week show that Quarter 4 of 2006 saw the highest number of new subscribers added in any single period since the launch of broadband services in Ireland, with an additional 80,600 new subscriptions added. At the end of 2006 Ireland had 517,300 broadband subscribers.

The EU report also refers to broadband penetration of 10.3% for October 2006 compared to the EU-25 average of 15.7%. As a result of Ireland's rapid growth in the last quarter of 2006 the penetration rate at the end of 2006 stood at 12.19%. I am heartened by industry estimates that show that we are now very close to 14%. Based on the current rate of growth, Ireland is on course to pass the EU-25 average of 15.7% by the end of the year.

While the provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, by private sector companies is a matter for the companies themselves, the Government has recognised that in some areas of the country the market has failed to invest in broadband roll-out. To that end the Government has intervened with various initiatives to facilitate broadband in these regions. So far, this Government has invested in (i) international connectivity; (ii) regional backhaul; (iii) metropolitan area networks (MANs); and (iv) group broadband schemes.

In addition to these interventions, I recently announced a National Broadband Scheme. This scheme will target the last 10-15% of the population who are without a broadband service and who would remain without a service without intervention. The Scheme will, when it is rolled out, ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband are met. The Department will commence the tender process as soon as possible. In addition, the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill, which has been passed by both Houses, will shortly be enacted into law giving ComReg enhanced powers which should help to alleviate the Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) bottleneck and result in even stronger broadband growth.

I have no function in relation to pricing, including line rental charges. This is a matter for the service providers concerned, who are regulated by the independent regulator, ComReg.