I want to draw the attention of the Minister to the fact that while the plan to roll out the broadband programme throughout the country is going ahead, there is now a need to focus on building on the fibreoptic system which already exists throughout the country. I would like to see that system extended in a thorough way to all the regions so that the towns and villages beyond centres of population, and including those centres of population, can play their part in the development of e-commerce and information and communications technology right throughout the country. The fibreoptic cable is in place in many parts of Ireland, including Kilkenny city, which I give as an example. It is now up to a partnership of Government and private enterprise to ensure that we build on the cable that is already in place.
There are many advantages to doing this. In Kilkenny, while we have spent £1 million through the Eircom project on providing the broadband and the necessary education and hardware to communities to enable them to participate in the development of information and communications technology, it is now essential that we provide the industry and the jobs that are attached to this development worldwide. The Government should focus on the participation of schools and should link up schools within regions. There is also the possibility of linking up villages and towns to ensure that they are ready to participate in e-commerce development.
I acknowledge the spend of nearly £4 million supported by European Union funding on the development of the infrastructure in Kilkenny city. I suggest that, in relation to the IDA development in Kilkenny and the establishment of a digital park, far more could be done by the IDA and others in relation to this broadband development and that park to attract high-tech industry to Kilkenny and fill the two factories which have been vacant for the past two years.
As a model, Kilkenny city could be taken as a virtual campus, and the infrastructure which is in place could ensure that the project which is being undertaken by the Carlow Institute of Technology, by NUI Maynooth and Queen's, could be a virtual third level campus in Kilkenny city. This would be using sensibly the Government investment in this type of infrastructure in Kilkenny.
In relation to Eircom, a further spend is necessary, in partnership with the Government, arising from its commitment to the sale of shares and the flotation of Eircom. The Maltings project in Kilkenny could build on that investment because the infrastructure exists in the regions and in Kilkenny city. The Maltings can benefit by virtue of the fact that huge investment has been made already in education, including marginalised communities, putting in infrastructure and involving industry. The Maltings project would bring together information and communications technology projects in an incubation centre. The backdrop of a medieval city like Kilkenny, using information and communications technology as a source of jobs and a source of education, could be a model for others to follow.
Portals are also very important. It is time for the Government to go into partnership with the many computer based companies that now exist in Ireland to roll out, on the back of the broadband infrastructure, portal development and other information technology developments. If we do this we will be capitalising on the huge amount of money which has been invested.
Let me also focus on decentralisation. We now have a programme of decentralisation being considered by the Government. In the roll out of that decentralisation, this broadband infrastructure and the fibreoptic cable will play a huge role. In Kilkenny, and in the south-eastern region in particular, we are poised to play a major part in that development. I suggest in this regard that the Government should focus on and package that decentralisation around the development of that fibreoptic network. It is essential that we do this in order to involve everyone. If we use the structure that is there, if we build on it in terms of jobs, education, linking towns, villages and urban centres, if we move to e-Government and e-local government we will embrace all of the communities, those who are well off, those who are marginalised and those who are enjoying the benefits of this economy. It is essential for the Government to focus its spend in this area and in Kilkenny in the future.
