Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Clifford-Lee’s call for the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to address the issue of the sale of paintings from the Beit collection. It may be too late if the event is on this evening. I raised this issue in 2015 when some paintings were to be sold. It is possible that some solution could be found. There are many people in the country who invest heavily in art who, if they were aware of this and given the opportunity, might be willing to offer a solution to the problem. I commend the Senator for raising the issue.

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources was in the House yesterday. He is clearly a Minister who is very much on top of his brief. I hope we have him here regularly. Logically, we would have him here regularly. Particularly on the subject of broadband, he was very comprehensive in his comments. Mobile phone coverage is a considerable issue throughout the country. The current mobile and voice data obligations are based on population and do not result in universal coverage. ComReg imposes a population coverage requirement of 70% for companies to fulfil their licence obligations. This requirement allows them to leave out the more sparsely populated areas and more isolated communities where communication is clearly a significant issue, especially for SMEs. I accept that we just had the Minister in but this is an issue we need to track regularly. I welcome the fact that Deputy Bernard Durkan has organised presentations in the Audiovisual Room on broadband and mobile phone coverage. He has agreed that all the providers will come here again in a few months. It is a matter we should also keep an eye on in this House.