Green Party representative for Limerick East, Trish Forde-Brennan, welcomed a plan unveiled by the Communications Minister last week that aims to ensure that every second-level school in the country is connected to the internet via a high-speed broadband line.

Minister Eamon Ryan launched the Government’s policy on Next Generation broadband for public consultation and emphasised that “having a world class broadband infrastructure would attract the cutting-edge, knowledge based industries needed to secure Ireland’s future economic prosperity and competitiveness”.

“The Government is setting the development of a knowledge economy at the heart of our economic and social policy. For this to occur, Ireland requires a truly national broadband infrastructure. This will equally benefit society and the consumer who is looking for greater coverage, lower costs and higher speeds,” he said.

The Government is pledging to have universal access to broadband in Ireland by early 2010 and it is hoped that by 2012 broadband speeds will equal or exceed those in other EU regions.

A 10 point plan and investment of €435 million has been earmarked under the National Development Plan 2007-2013 to achieve this aim.

Ms Forde-Brennan said that “our schools have a vital role to play in ensuring that young people entering the workforce can make the most out of the opportunities presented by the knowledge economy”.

“For years, schools were left behind with poor equipment, insufficient training and totally inadequate internet connections. I am encouraged that Minister Ryan has made broadband connectivity for schools one of his top priorities, and I believe these new proposals represent a step forward towards the day when children going to school in Limerick have the IT facilities they deserve.”

She added that the minister’s proposal to ensure that new roads and building projects install state-of-the-art fibre connections when they are being built, and for new infrastructure projects to install ‘ducting’ so new cables can be easily installed without roads and footpaths having to be dug up, is “thoroughly sensible and will mean a lot less disruption and installation delays in the future”.