David Stanton
Question:6 Mr. Stanton asked the Taoiseach his views on recent reports regarding Ireland's e-readiness position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7179/03]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Information Society Strategy.
As Minister with responsibility for the information society, I have a keen interest in promoting Ireland's overall e-readiness. In this regard, I recently published a progress report on the Government's action plan on the information society, New Connections. It outlines progress in each of the seven strands underpinning the action plan. Furthermore, it enables us to determine what key issues need to be addressed to continue to drive the agenda forward.
In terms of our overall e-readiness, Ireland's relative strengths lie in our consistently strong performance in the e-Europe benchmarking process – Ireland has performed strongest of all EU member states in the area of e-government since November 2001; our comprehensive information society strategy set out in New Connections, which captures the key policy commitments that need to be progressed to ensure our development as a leading information society; the establishment of the Cabinet committee on the information society and the appointment for the first time of a Minister responsible for that area, which provides the framework to co-ordinate and drive the agenda forward; our performance in attracting foreign direct investment, which is one of the strongest in the world relative to the size of our economy; and our €2.5 billion investment to research and development under the NDP, which reflects our commitment to advanced science and technological research.
One area of critical importance to our e-readiness is the development of the underlying telecommunications infrastructure. The Government is firmly committed to developing this infrastructure through our broadband strategy. Significant progress has been made under the strategy to date, with broadband roll-outs for the first of the pathfinder towns having recently been announced.
In analysis of e-readiness, one must bear in mind that this is not a process which will occur overnight. The vast programme of change and innovation outlined in New Connections requires continual commitment and review. Through our various strategies, action plan and supporting frameworks, however, we are well positioned to deliver on this rapidly evolving agenda and to ensure that everybody can benefit from e-readiness. I am particularly interested not only in the area of education but also in the areas of lifelong learning and e-inclusion.
Is the Minister of State concerned about reports, especially in the Economist intelligence unit, that we have slipped globally in this area? What will she do about those? Does she agree that one of the big issues relating to e-readiness is spam mail? Has the Minister of State examined this problem which is costing business millions of euro? In her capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for e-government, does she have any plans to introduce measures to deal with this troubling and difficult issue?
Various reports have referred to Ireland's ranking in this regard but the results are different depending upon which report one reads. The report of the World Economic Forum was based on the availability of broadband here, while the network readiness index examined whether we had the relevant skills and ICTs, as well as whether Government was using those services and processes. In the latter report, Ireland ranks 21 out of 82. On the broader framework, our rankings continue to be very high but, nevertheless, we are conscious of the progress that needs to be made across a wide range of issues.
The problem of spam mail continues to arise and more so recently for some reason; I do not know whether it is because people are receiving more of it now than before. Obviously, we are all very conscious of it. Technological advances are required to screen out spam mail but that is in the hands of others. The Government will have to examine what steps are necessary to ensure that this cannot happen in future. Given that e-mail is so international, the issue of spam mail will be very difficult to control at a national level.
The Government has no plans.
Is the Minister of State aware that we have recently slipped from 24th to 28th place in the world rankings? Is she not seriously concerned about the cost to families of linking up to such systems? Children now expect to use IT as a matter of course but the cost is prohibitive. Almost nothing is happening to bring down the cost of Internet subscriptions in Ireland, which is exceptionally expensive. Many visitors to Ireland, including business visitors and executives who relocate here with their families, are genuinely shocked by the costs involved. We are developing a bad reputation in this area when we should stand out as one of the best countries in which to conduct e-business.
The Deputy referred to a report but there are so many of these reports that keep appearing at various levels. I am interested in the e-Government report which constantly shows Ireland in first or second place in this regard. Last month, the ComReg report on residential telecoms services showed that we have now passed out Germany and are ranked fifth vis-à-vis our European partners. We have also moved up the rankings when it comes to the provision of business telecommunications services and national leased-line services. We are very much to the fore in e-readiness and e-government and we are making huge progress in developing broadband services.
The rolling out of broadband to the areas identified in the strategy, including 19 towns immediately and 67 others that are coming on stream, will ensure that a higher speed of service is available, which will also be cheaper. ComReg has confirmed that the introduction of FRIACO is on schedule, while Eircom has already announced its rates. Flat-rate access is scheduled to be made available to retail consumers and businesses by the end of June. We have seen substantial competition between providers who are now offering cheaper monthly flat-rate access. The price of DSL has also been halved. All these factors are contributing to ensuring that faster access is available. The aim of the New Connections document is to ensure that cheap, flat-rate access is always available in order to encourage more Internet usage.
The old adage states that "the devil can often cite scripture for his own purposes" and, to some extent, the Minister of State is doing this. She says foreign investors are expressing confidence but last week the Irish Management Institute reported that one in four of the very same foreign investors lacked confidence in Ireland. Significantly, the issue they put at the top of their list was a lack of broadband access for people trying to do business here. Will the Minister of State examine the key issue of rolling out broadband access because it is a vital artery for doing business? Whatever about our performance in the area of e-government, if we cannot get business networks right, we cannot succeed.
I agree that the rolling out of broadband is critical to our competitiveness, to attracting and retaining foreign investment and to maintaining and developing regional development. As a result of that and its benefits in tackling social disadvantage and exclusion, my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, has undertaken a programme of rolling out broadband, which started—
Very slowly. We are third from the bottom of the league.
Only a few years ago there was zero penetration of broadband whereas now, at least, it is being rolled out to the major towns and it will be rolled out to more than 60 towns in the coming months. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, has responsibility for this area in which we have seen progress. Investment has also been made in it although I admit it will take some months before we see the benefits of this.