Fianna Fáil is opposing the Bill mainly on the grounds that the sale of a percentage shareholding in Telecom Éireann was a bad deal. Apart from that, we would agree with most of what the Minister said.
Ireland has an important role to play in the evolving and developing technological age. The Irish telecommunications industry is well positioned to make a valuable contribution to the international telecommunications industry, which is changing at a revolutionary pace. It can be to the forefront of the advanced technological changes which are taking place. It can play its part in contributing greatly towards the creation of further employment through the generation of new opportunities and the consolidation of existing jobs in this area.
Changes in information technology are proceeding at a great pace. Ireland and the international community must face the twin Challenges of keeping abreast of the changes taking place and ensuring people are provided with the necessary skills and expertise to deal with those changes. The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications has a role to play in this regard, but there is also a grave onus on the Minister for Education to streamline our educational institutions so they can come to grips with the challenges they face. I am not certain that this has been done in the past. The Minister for Education published a number of papers in recent years, which were developed by her successors, that deal with the challenge of the information society and the changes it will bring to the international community. However, the Minister for Education has taken little action in setting down ways in which these changes can be harnessed and mobilised for the benefit of the people.
There are two areas which require urgent attention on the part of the Government. The first relates to the preparation and training of skilled people and the introduction of the necessary courses and programmes in our colleges and institutions which will enable young Irish personnel to be trained, and kept abreast of developments, in this highly sophisticated area. Second, whether through existing mechanisms or the new directorship, it must be ensured that people will be able to positively exploit the opportunities which will arise in the near future.
I am glad this legislation is being introduced by the Minister of State. When the initial debates took place in the Lower House on the establishment of Telecom Éireann and An Post, I recall the Labour Party, supported by the trade union movement, offered stringent opposition. If the Bill represents a change on the road to Damascus, it will not be the first occasion on which this has occurred. I welcome this because many existing institutions and organisations are not capable of exploiting the rapidly emerging opportunities in this area. These institutions were established to cater for the needs of a previous generation but, through no fault of the staff, who are of the highest calibre, their hands were tied behind their backs by outdated and antiquated legislation which did not provide mechanisms through which they could engage with emerging opportunities.
I want to pay tribute to Deputy Reynolds and Mr. Mark Killilea, the Minister and Minister of State in office when these exciting changes took place in the telecommunications industry. When I was first elected to the Dáil in 1973 I recall the difficulties I encountered while endeavouring to have telephones installed for constituents and dealing with the manual operation systems in the west. The Development of that part of the country was handicapped and neglected for many years because of the absence of a decent telecommunications system. In some respects, Deputy Reynolds and Mr. Killilea brought the Irish telecommunications industry into the 20th century.
The challenge for the new director, the Government and the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications will be to ensure the further development of that industry into the 21st century. They must also enable it to flourish, expand, and develop and young people, particularly graduates, must be encouraged to exploit the new and exciting possibilities emerging.
I cannot allow this opportunity pass without paying tribute to the employees of Telecom Éireann. I have firsthand experience of the work they carry out in dealing with breakdowns, sometimes in varying weather conditions. As far as I am concerned, they work in an efficient and effective way. I place on record my appreciation to the many young people, recruited to Telecom Éireann a number of years ago, for the dedicated service they provide and the important work they carry out in sometimes treacherous weather conditions and on difficult terrain. They have succeeded in modernising an antiquated 18th century service and putting in a replacement comparable with its European counterparts.
Many other services can be developed in the future. Within the existing service, there are mechanisms by which it can be developed and expanded. There is also a highly motivated staff who have shown that they are capable of adapting to change. The director and the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications have a responsibility to ensure the staff are trained and retrained to deal with emerging challenges. I am not certain the legislation provides for this. Perhaps I did not read the Bill closely, but it should contain a section to provide in-service training and language courses for staff. In the context of the modern telecommunications system, it is important that staff are fluent in foreign languages if they are to avail of opportunities abroad. This is not prevalent in the service at present.
I do not wish to deal with this matter in great detail. However, there is a necessity for the director or the Minister to invest heavily in the training and retraining of existing personnel to meet future challenges. This must be coupled with a commitment from the Minister for Education to put in place in our colleges and institutions an arrangement to fully exploit the opportunities in this rapidly expanding industry.
Information technology not only challenges young people within the education system but it also provides challenges for many others. Young and old people are now facing the prospect of dramatic changes in the entire global telecommunications industry. Many will discover opportunities and possibilities for enjoyment and recreation in new and exciting global information technologies.
The area of west County Clare where I reside has enjoyed the benefits of the MMDS system for a number of years. There have been some complaints but, by and large, the system has been a major success. In the past, a system of deflectors originating in Enniskillen was used which continually broke down. I do not wish to become involved in ongoing arguments about replacing the old system with its MMDS counterpart in other parts of the country and I can only attest to my personal experience.
People living in the remote part of the west Clare peninsula where I reside can now receive CNN, Sky, NBC Superchannel, etc., through the MMDS system operated by Irish Multichannel.
The local county football final between Cooraclare and Doonbeg was broadcast on one of the channels. Thus we have an international service providing the most up to date pictures from around the world in hourly news bulletins and local football matches. The service in the Limerick area broadcast the graduation ceremony in the University of Limerick and the nursing college in Limerick Regional Hospital. It is possible to use a modern sophisticated telecommunications system to transmit local football matches.
The MMDS system has worked satisfactorily in the mid west region and should work satisfactorily in other areas also. It is more reliable and effective than some of the older systems, which broke down frequently and needed a lot or maintenance and investment.
There have been many developments in satellite communications and mobile telephones in the past few years. The EU decisions over many years to liberalise telecommunications are forward-looking and wise. The changes which will take place in the next five years will prove that the investment of £2 billion made in our services since 1985 has been worthwhile. It will be necessary to continue investing if we are to derive maximum benefit from future opportunities.
The existing service provider needs to improve its customer relations and service. In spite of all the modern telecommunications systems in use it can still be traumatic for a person to have their telephone cut off automatically and without notice for overdue payment. The cost of reconnection is £30. It would be far more customer friendly to call the subscriber and to inform him or her that the service will be disconnected the next day unless the bill is paid. It would lead to a 100 per cent response with payment.
In the past with the manual system the local postmaster would telephone if a bill was overdue and the bill would be paid. There might have been complaints that the postmistress might have information other than the bill being overdue, but that is another matter. In far less sophisticated times, when we had a less than perfect telephone system, one would at least receive a telephone call to warn of disconnection. Given the developments in technology, I do not understand why it is not possible to do so nowadays. The accounts branch in Telecom Éireann should get the message that the customers are important — they pay the bills after all — and they should get a telephone call to inform them of disconnection if payment is overdue.
I understand that the Minister got a bad deal in the arrangements with KPN/Telia. The Minister could have got a better deal had he played his cards right. However, the decision has been made and it is not helpful to undermine the new arrangement for what it is worth. Perhaps we could and should have done better, but we have not. Let us make the present arrangement work and let us try to find a way to improve upon it in the light of experience.
I wish to raise the issue of the negotiations with the unions in Telecom Éireann on the percentage of the ownership for the employees under the new arrangement. I understand that 5 per cent was the figure considered for negotiation with the unions. No negotiations have taken place yet. The Minister should consider doubling that percentage.
