Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
2. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the engagement she has had with the mobile phone and broadband task force in the past six months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27815/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI want to get the perspective of the Minister on her latest interactions with the mobile phone and broadband task force.
The mobile phone and broadband task force was re-established on 15 December 2021 with an inaugural meeting of State bodies co-chaired by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. This meeting included senior representatives of a number of Departments and State bodies. This first meeting allowed the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to set out their priorities for the coming period, which include improving mobile phone coverage in rural areas; examining issues around planning permissions and licensing for, and sharing of, telecoms infrastructure; the use of public assets for telecoms purposes; and improving the quality and availability of information for consumers of telecoms services and products.
On 27 April 2022, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, co-chaired the second meeting of the reconvened task force. This meeting was attended by the full task force membership, including representatives of the telecommunications industry. This meeting allowed for discussion of the draft year one work programme and the terms of reference. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, were both impressed with the level of commitment shown by members to the ambitions of the task force and the creative nature of the proposed solutions.
As the work programme moves towards implementation, officials from this Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will continue to engage with each member of the task force bilaterally to ensure progress on the actions. It is anticipated the next meeting of the task force will take place in September 2022 with an annual stakeholder forum to take place in spring 2023.
Did the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien, attend the meeting as well?
No, I did not.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is here and she attended the meeting, so I am not sure why she is not answering the question.
We are sharing the load.
Yes, we are sharing.
I understand. The Ministers are sharing the load. I accept that. I apologise. Two key points arise from those deliberations. One is the point about improving outdoor mobile phone coverage. I acknowledge that a lot had been achieved in the key output of the previous task force of improving mobile phone coverage in rural areas and in urban blackspots. As more and more people are taking the modal shift in transport from private car travel into train and bus travel, we must ensure blackspots are addressed, in particular on the railway line, for instance, between Cork and Dublin, which is a service people use. Are such services being considered in terms of ensuring we have complete 100% coverage?
I can give the Deputy some information about what the task force is looking at. The issues it will look at this time are more complex, knotty and time consuming, and responsibility for such actions cannot always be assigned to a single body, as was the practice previously. We will make use of the well-established collaborative culture of the task force to take on the actions that require multiple stakeholders working together to deliver. That means fewer actions with longer delivery timelines but a much greater strategic impact. Specific actions have been discussed with members and there is a plan to publish the year one work programme in the coming weeks. The actions will fall under the three pillars of planning and licensing, improving information and access to assets and infrastructure, and improving customer information advice and experience.
I think we all acknowledge the work. We also acknowledge that the coverage of mobile telephony could be improved. There are still some well-noted blackspots. We all know of them within our constituencies. If we could find some mechanism where we as public representatives could notify somebody who is involved in the task force of these specific blackspots, we would be serving our constituents well in that regard. I referred specifically to the Cork to Dublin railway line, where there are significant blackspots, and I wonder if that could be addressed. If the Minister of State could take that message back, I would be most grateful.
Certainly, we can feed that very practical point back into the task force. I will give the Deputy a flavour of some of the actions that are currently agreed. The Department of Rural and Community Development will continue to refine and enhance the broadband officer roles across local authorities in alignment with the implementation of the EU connectivity toolbox and the development of the EU smart community policy. In short, the Department will work with the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to align the work of the broadband officers with European policy priorities as well as national priorities such as Our Rural Future, town centre first, making remote work and the national digital strategy. By aligning more with EU policy, we hope to leverage European funding and opportunities for collaboration and the exchange of ideas and expertise with colleagues across the Continent.
