Lack Of Proper Broadband Service a Threat To Rural Development

Is it any wonder that the employment figures in the Western area are not growing when we see the shocking number of homes and businesses that have no access to broadband services and this is a situation that cannot continue and will have to be addressed by the new Government as matter of urgency.
Figures out this week show that in counties Galway Mayo and Roscommon there are over 120,000 homes and businesses who do not have access to broadband and in this day and age that is a scandal. It is clear from the figures that the West is a blackspot when it comes to broadband coverage. Is it any wonder that this region is the only one in the country where there is no rise in employment figures when businesses don’t have access to a proper broadband service? How can we expect to attract employers to the region when in many cases they have no broadband service and in many areas a poor mobile phone service as well. The new Minister and Government will have to tackle this problem immediately because this is a situation that simply cannot go on if we are to be serious about tacking the problems in rural Ireland. Unless we improve the broadband and mobile service in the region then we are wasting our time talking about creating employment.