Ireland must meet broadband challenge
Issued : Wednesday 10 March, 2010
Liz McManus TD has called on the Minister for Communications to act on the findings of the about to be published Innovation Taskforce, as reported in today's Irish Times.
"It was reported today that the Government's Innovation Taskforce has called for a universal access to high-quality broadband and proposed major investment in this area. It states that universal, high quality broadband as a key infrastructure for the smart economy.
"This report follows a recent Davy report which highlighted a disastrous government investment policy in Ireland from 2000 to 2008 which resulted in over-investment in property and an under-investment in our telecoms sector.
"Criticism of telecommunications here is nothing new with Ireland regularly performing badly on the basis of broadband speed, quality and cost but in the context of innovation enterprise we need to have a strategic response from the government.
"The current deficits in access, speeds and quality must be addressed as a priority in light of the severe economic challenges we face."
