Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 19: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on recent figures from the OECD which showed that Ireland fell one place to 21st out of 30 OECD countries for broadband penetration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24074/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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When referring to broadband and broadband take-up the most commonly used indicator is the OECD indicator. This is the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants. The most up to date report includes data as at the end of December 2008. Ireland, at 20.6, subscribers per 100 inhabitants, is behind the OECD average of 22.6.

This indicator does not take into account mobile broadband subscriber data. Ireland had 308,909 mobile broadband subscribers at the end of December 2008. Year-on-year, mobile broadband subscriptions increased in Ireland by 142%.

The OECD reporting is lagging behind developments in the market. Given the capability of mobile broadband to deliver broadband services that compare well with other platforms, the inclusion of mobile broadband subscriber data in OECD reports has been requested by various countries including Ireland. The OECD is now proposing to publish two indicators, one for wired broadband and another for wireless broadband (to include mobile data). It is important that advances made in broadband uptake in Ireland are reflected in the international statistics to give the complete picture.

Counting mobile broadband subscriptions, which the OECD will do in future reports, Ireland's score rises significantly to 27.1, and should be well ahead of the OECD average for future reports.