Pat Rabbitte
Question:22 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will give an up-date on the development of e-commerce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4640/99]
Written Answers. - Electronic Commerce.
The report, Implementing the Information Society in Ireland: An Action Plan, recently launched by the Taoiseach, allocates responsibilities and goals to Irish public bodies and timescales for the achievement of these goals. The report aims to ensure that Ireland exploits the benefits which the information age, and electronic commerce in particular, offers.
I will outline progress to date on a number of key goals allocated to my Department by the report, under the broad headings of infrastructure, legislation and markets.
A task force chaired by my Department is currently negotiating the development of new high capacity telecommunications/electronic commerce links between Ireland and major commercial centres in Europe and the US through an alliance of State and private interests. The Minister for Finance announced the provision of IR£12 million in the budget to support this project which will dramatically enhance Ireland's international connectivity to global Internet networks. The project is well under way and our ultimate objective is to see this capacity come on stream in late 2000.
Recognising that in certain regions of the country, competition alone will not provide the required broadband infrastructural investment, I have recently made available European Union co-funding to projects supporting the development of advanced communications networks and services in these regions.
Legislation to facilitate electronic transactions, covering the establishment of certification authorities and giving legal recognition to electronic signatures, is currently being drafted by my Department and will be published before the summer recess. This legislation will be based on the broad principles outlined in the document, Framework for a National Policy on Cryptography and Electronic Signatures, which was published last year.
In addition a Telecommunications (Infrastructure) Bill, which will provide for an upto-date and balanced regulatory regime in relation to the development of telecommunications infrastructure, is currently in preparation in my Department.
The final decision on the contents of the Bill will be made in consultation with my Cabinet colleagues. I hope to be in a position to publish the Bill during the current Dáil session.
The forthcoming sale of Cablelink and the initial public offering of Telecom Éireann will help foster competition in the domestic telecommunications market. Electronic commerce requires cost competitive telecommunications services – this we believe is best achieved through competition.