Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 115: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the steps he has taken or proposes to take to bring the standard and quality of communications here up to best international practice; his plans to encourage sufficient infrastructural investment in the industry to bring this about; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4568/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The role of the Government in the electronic communications market in Ireland is to formulate policy to facilitate the provision of high quality services by competing service providers.

The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard my Department has undertaken a variety of initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage. These initiatives have helped to facilitate the development of the market to the point where over 60% of Irish households now have a broadband connection. ComReg's quarterly report for Q3 2008 states that 61.1% of those households have a connection in the speed category of 2mbps — 10mbps. At the end of Q1 2008, 83% of Irish SMEs had a broadband connection. Most of those SMEs, 72.6%, according to ComReg's report for Q3 2008, have a connection in the speed category of 2mbps — 10mbps.

The latest OECD report, which includes data up to June 2008 is also testament to the considerable improvement of recent years. It shows that Ireland had the fourth strongest per capita broadband subscription growth of the 30 countries ranked. With similar fast uptake of broadband noted in previous reports, Ireland has closed the gap on the OECD average with our improvement over the past 2 years. Additionally, it should be noted that mobile broadband, which is very popular with Irish broadband subscribers, is not yet published for the purposes of international statistical comparisons. However, mobile broadband statistics are expected to be published by the OECD in the future reports. The publication of mobile broadband statistics is expected to improve Ireland's ranking further.

There are still some parts of the country where the private sector cannot justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, my Department has undertaken to implement the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and has entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the NBS. 3 will be required to provide services to all residences and businesses that are within the NBS area and who seek a service. Services will begin to be rolled out in April 2009 and the entire NBS area will be served by September 2010.

Internationally, electronic communications markets are moving to provide next generation broadband in order to deliver greater quality, speed and service to consumers. This is happening where there is strong competition and incentives to innovate. The policy framework for future broadband development in Ireland is set out in the consultation paper on Next Generation Broadband, which I published last July. The consultation period on the paper has now concluded and I will publish the final policy paper shortly.

I am also actively engaged with the EU Commission's review of the regulatory framework for electronic communications. Effective regulation, and more consistency in regulatory approaches across all the Member States, will enhance the conditions necessary for investment in communications technology and allow Ireland exploit the opportunities such technology brings for the benefit of our economy and society.