Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 475: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that 100 Mbps fibre broadband is available in rural locations in the United Kingdom, such as Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, with the assistance of European funding through the European Regional Development Fund's convergence programme; if he would consider organising a similar type scheme for west Cork with similar financial support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40318/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Government policy pertaining to the electronic communications market in Ireland is set out in "Next Generation Broadband – Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", which I published in June 2009. The policy paper was developed in accordance with various key principles, which are crucial to the development of the market including (i) competition, at platform and service levels, which drives innovation and investment (ii) investment certainty for service providers considering investing in network infrastructure, (iii) investment intervention by Government to bridge any digital divide in cases of market failure and to meet certain of the State's own communication needs, and (iv) appropriate regulation. The policy paper sets out the Government's position that investment in broadband infrastructure is primarily a matter for the private sector, facilitated, where appropriate and possible, by Government.

The policy has facilitated significant progress in broadband roll out and increasing broadband speeds over recent years. At the end of June 2010, for example, Ireland had in the region of 1.48 million broadband subscriptions and of the homes with broadband access 77.8% of them are using broadband speeds between 2mbps and 10mbps. This progress was achieved by a combination of competitive forces in the open market and Government and ERDF funded schemes such as the Metropolitan Areas Networks programme and the National Broadband Scheme. The latter schemes are designed to intervene where market failure has been identified.

This approach is also consistent with the EU Commission's 'Community Guidelines on State Aid rules for broadband networks' (2009/C 235/04), which limit the circumstances in which the State can intervene in the broadband market. The proposed Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Next Generation Broadband scheme, referred to by the Deputy, was also examined under those guidelines as part of the EU State Aids clearance process. I signalled last month that I have commenced the establishment of a Next Generation Broadband Taskforce, comprising industry, Government and ComReg, to consider how best to facilitate the roll out of next generation broadband in Ireland without compromising the competitive market principles and applicable EU rules.