Welcome
to the VISION of
Gerry Reynolds MCC

Introduction

I have been asked to give my vision of Ireland in 2020.
Well I am not so much in the business of predicting the future as being part of creating it. I see the West's future a being a period of unparallel growth and prosperity, if we act now to provide the infrastructure and communities to achieve it.
The overhaul in Ireland and indeed the world economy affords the West of Ireland the opportunity to compete equally in a global economy. However, we have constraints and barriers that must be overcome to reach this Promised Land.
The good news is that the issues I see foremost for the development of the west are achievable, although challenging.
The bad news is that they are not being currently addressed, worse in fact a creeping policy of abdication of responsibility by the present Government has meant that little action has or is being taken.
The prospects for participation by the West in the new economy are being hampered by a confused and often negligent attitude by the Government.
The issues I address concern the creation of our new infrastructure and the creation of conditions that add to our quality of life here in the West of Ireland.
I see Infrastructural development that not only entice development in the west but would facilitate it today.
The three main infrastructural issues I have taken are:

• The provision of the Bandwidth that High Tech industry demand before even assessing a location for development.
• The provision of Electricity for the West and Gas pipeline supply
• The provision of Road Rail Infrastructure and Regional Airports
• Education and Reversing Depopulation
• Benefit to the Quality of Life of all of us here in the West
• Infrastructural and economic development

Having high-speed capability is considered essential if Ireland is to compete for e-commerce business on the international stage.
However, having a well-developed broadband infrastructure across the state is considered essential if the fruits of our national investment are not to be concentrated in Dublin. Other deficits are not about the existence of infrastructure but its relative cost.
When it became attractive for companies to land a major fibre-optic pipe in Ireland a private firm, Global Crossing, the cost of broadband traffic out of Ireland reduced by no less than 90%. Yet, sending a broadband message from Galway to Dublin costs four times as much as sending the same message from Dublin to Munich.
The problem is that companies outside of Dublin have to effectively lease a line to get their traffic to Dublin before it goes to its final international destination. Eircom, which controls most of the broadband infrastructure in Ireland claim that its rates are low, but those rates are still one more reason for a company to favour setting up in Dublin.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke, T.D, heralded the publication of the Report of the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications as far back as 18th November 1998 as a watershed in efforts to make Ireland a European hub for Electronic Commerce.
The Report published a list of recommendations, that have never been implemented

• The establishment of an electronic "Shamrock" mark to promote consumer trust
• Development of a Business Angels Network - tapping into the expertise and experience of successful E Commerce entrepreneurs ·
• Development of new international fibre optic connections through public private partnership funding
• Allow eircom competitors to access individual customer lines at prices similar to that of costs of establishing new lines.
• Low cost Internet access

These proposals are of interest to us because of the order in which Minister O'Rourke has placed these proposals and what has been achieved since. The Minister has placed the Shamrock mark and Mentor scheme above The Development of Fibre Optic connections, providing low cost Internet access and at the bottom of the list Allowing Eircom's Competitors to access individual customer lines. This is known as Unbundling the local Loop, Cutting through the jargon this means bring cheap and fast Internet access to ALL telephone Business and personal customers by introducing the EU directive on Competition in the Telecommunications Industry. Mary O'Rourke has not done this. These promises were made in 1998, 3 years ago. 3 Years ago. A week may be long time in politics but it is a light age in the telecommunications industry that does not reward tardiness. In Dublin there was a large meeting of concerned Internet users, many of a very technical persuasion, organising a technical lobby against the government and minister for the and I quote " ill-informed, arrogant and uneven" inaction on internet infrastructure. Without unbundling the local loop, in other words allowing access to companies other than Eircom into our homes and Businesses How can she propose an eCommerce hub for Ireland? Does she really believe you can create a Shamrock quality mark for Internet and eCommerce without providing the necessary infrastructure? It is akin to promising a new railway without providing any railway tracks. How can an eCommerce hub be created if the government will not enforce Eircom's handover of the local loop, or access to customers? It is ill thought economics and cowardly politics. Crazy. This access was developed by Eircom, when it was a State company; this access is a national resource, NOT the property of Eircom's much criticised board of directors. Why has Mary O'Rourke not stood up to Eircom and allowed development of a competitive telecommunications and Internet market in Ireland? The European Directive deadline for this handover of the local loop was a year and Half ago. It was promised three years ago, it was required by Europe a year and a half ago and no initiative has been pursued or even proposed as to WHEN, HOW and most worryingly IF this ever going to happen. We cannot provide the much-heralded eCommerce Hub of Europe without the government standing up to Eircom and delivering not only on their weak promises but also on mandatory European Competition regulations.

Why is this so important for the West?

E commerce negates entirely, the historic disadvantage the West of Ireland has had attracting investing and quality employment for its people. When the West has an Internet infrastructure it can compete globally as if it were in San Francisco Singapore, Munich or Dublin. This is the golden opportunity for the west. The new economy removes the barriers to trade such as geographical location, perfect for the west and indeed the whole island of Ireland, which is after all, itself a westerly isolated region. Unfortunately the government's failure to allow for an Internet infrastructure is disproportionately affecting the West of Ireland. Small scale and individual exceptions to provide bandwidth have been facilitated with urgency for certain groupings in Dublin. Nothing has been done for the West. In fact when the government speak of Internet infrastructure they with out fail refer to City West, in Dublin not the west, the midlands or the boarder regions. Minister O'Rourke's said in her "watershed" 1998 " Of immediate significance is the proposed unbundling of the local loop. This would allow competitors of Telecom Éireann to gain access to individual customer lines at a price comparable to costs of establishing new lines. This will have the effect of accelerating the development of competitive service offerings while minimising economic disruption and unnecessary duplication of local access networks". I agree, but she said this 3 years ago. Nothing has progressed since then. The only watershed and Liberalisation Mary O'Rourke has facilitated are liberally shed tears by business and consumers who pay premium rates for broadband, internet access, that is slower than a fax machine. Proactive is not the word to describe the Governments actions, or more accurately inactions. If they are serious about providing a platform for the development of highly sought after industries why did they crumbled at the first hurdle, namely , opposition from the board of Eircom. It is open to discussion as to whether the real problem here is unbundling the governments intricate business and political loops as much as unbundling the local loop. The point that must be noted here is the government's policy of shifting responsibility away from themselves under the guise of allocating authority. Authority for deregulating the telcoms industry in Ireland has been placed with the regulator Etain Doyle in the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation - The ODTR. The government can legitimately pursue allocating authority for the implementation for deregulation to an Independent authority. However Mary O'Rourke's policy has also to divest herself of RESPONSIBILITY for the Deregulation. This has created a situation where inaction is blamed on the ODTR by the government. If the regulator fails to implement change who is responsible? Not the minister, The Taoiseach or indeed any elected official according to the Government. So we are left with high Internet charges, no Internet infrastructure and thousands of jobs lost because the government does not see itself as responsible. I must make this clear, the government is responsible. Eircom are allowed to continue a monopoly for one reason alone. The government have not and show no signs of opening up and developing the telecommunications industry. The vision I have for 2020 is one where Ministers enthusiastically accept responsibility for their departments and tackle monopolies to create an economy the west and outside investment can both participate in successfully. On Low Cost Internet Access Minister O'Rourke stated: "Ireland should seek to establish low-cost, Internet access including consideration of flat-rate pricing at levels" Again I, and every business and economic analysts agree with this statement. But again, this promise was made over Three Years ago. If anyone here has received a bill recently for Internet access from Eircom, you will be painfully aware, and it is painful receiving these bills, that pricing structures have not changed, there is no flat fee structure in place. How can we expect High-Tech companies to locate in the West of Ireland if they are paying a premium for using a grossly inadequate core service? Failure to act is costing dearly, and it will be too late if action is not taken swiftly. Major corporations, most notably Microsoft have continually voiced their incomprehension and increasing concerns over the government's unwillingness to tackle Eircom's monopoly. The Western Development Blueprint for Success commissioned a report providing the government with guidance for the National Development Plan by Indecon International Economic Consultants. This report is notable for the absence of information and strategy for bandwidth, telecommunications and high tech industry for us in the West. Paddy McNutt is a partner and head of Competition & Regulatory Affairs with Indecon. Prior to joining Indecon on a full time basis Mr McNutt was the Executive Chairman of Competition Authority. He had previously held the Professorship in Political Economy at the University of Ulster. He is recognised as one of Europe's leading specialists in competition policy. Mr McNutt chose Jamaica to expound his views on Telecommunications deregulation. In a speech last September to the Jamaican FTC, as part of Judges Seminar on Competition Policy, he said

"The aim of liberalising the telecommunications sector is to offer telecom users the best and most cost-efficient telecommunications services. Reaching the targets means establishing a competitive environment, which at the same time prepares the sector for increased global competition. In order to reach this target it is necessary to introduce competition principles, which may safeguard against abuse of a dominant position and which may hinder anti-competitive agreements. In a political sense, one has to ensure that the transition from a state monopoly to a free and competitive market."

Mr McNutt's comments would have been well served if they had been included in his report to the Western Development Commission. They are equally and I would argue more relevant to the telecommunications infrastructure in the West of Ireland as they are in Jamaica. I would be critical of this egregious oversight in the report to the Western Development Commission.

Problems with our electricity network mean that it is extremely difficult to get foreign companies to even review setting up a base anywhere north of a line between Galway and Dundalk. ESB warned the Government that large areas of Ireland are experiencing severe electricity supply problems, due to the overloading of our electricity transmission system. Faced with five consecutive years of annual growth in electricity demand of about 6%, ESB is attempting to meet the demands of a relatively industrialised country using a transmission system designed for a primarily agricultural economy. The result is that many inward investment projects are effectively barred from large areas of the country and many existing business are facing problems relating to the reliability of supply. This is well known. The ESB National Grid - Eirgrid- has given presentations to the Department Of Public Enterprise, Forfas and IDA Ireland in which it gave a stark warning that the problem will extend to most of the country by 2005, unless effective action is taken. Electricity needs are measured by peak demand. It took us 60 years to reach a peak demand of about 2,000 megawatts in 1983. Yet in the 17 years that followed peak demand doubled to its current level of about 4,000mw. The problem is particularly acute here in the North and West of the Ireland. In 1987 the peak power flow going into the area north of a line connecting Galway to Monaghan was only 25mw. By 1996 it had grown to 200mw, by 2005 it is expected to grow to 500mw. I can't see as far as 2020. The problem is not just about supply, but reliability. The electricity transmission system can be compared to our rural water scheme. The problem is that the more people who are put on the system the lower the flow rate. In a water scheme this means that the pressure in you shower is not as great as you might like. In a transmission system it means that voltages drop, lights dim, computers cut out and data is lost. None of this causes a serious problem for the domestic user, but many industrial such as biotechnology and computer firms are dependent on electricity of a regular voltage. Foreign companies considering setting up in an area want to know that they can get the amount of electricity they need at the correct voltage. If one transmission line is hit by lightening, or taken out for maintenance will there still have power. This is one of the main problems facing ESB. At present three of five lines that have to be cut off for maintenance are shut down at weekends or bank holidays. Substantial new infrastructure must be provided without delay if we are to rectify this situation. Sean Dorgan of the IDA said and I quote "The transmission network nationally is not as strong as it should be, North of a line from Galway to Carrick-on-Shannon to Dundalk the network is inadequate and needs considerable Development. You just couldn't put a major power user north of that line."

The problem with the transmission system could have serious repercussions for companies such as Viridian and ePower, which are entering the electricity market. It is envisaged that smaller, older and less-efficient stations in peripheral locations may be required to operate at peak to supply their areas, which in turn means that new efficient stations, concentrated along the East Coast, including those of new entrants to the markets, may be forced to curtail their output. The problem with the development of the transmission system is not one of money. ESB is currently investing about IR Pounds 200m in the system and has plans to invest a further IR Pounds 250m. The problem is that planning delays mean it can take eight years to build a single line. This problem is exasperated by ESB' s poor record on consultation with local communities. The choice between overhead and underground cabling is clear-cut according to the government and the ESB. The only costing offered by the government has been produced by the ESB itself. I formally asked the Minister to provide another costing from an independent party. No response was given or action taken. The lives of many are shadowed by the prospect of unnecessary and dangerous overhead pylons. Over four thousand people have objected to the proposed construction of a pylon line in Flagford co Roscommon to Sligo town. No response from the minister on the costing is insulting to the people who will have to live with the decision. I believe a solution to part of our energy problem in the Western regions in Gas supply. Why has the government not put a timeframe in place for the delivery of gas to Sligo? A date should be set and a distribution plan acted on. This ideally should be done in conjunction with other infrastructural works. However the is no timeframe for gas, road or broadband Internet. I have been around long enough, over 13 years as a TD to know that if there is no time frame there is no promise. Even if the government took the unusually candid approach of coming clean and saying this is not going to happen it would allow private funding to review the installations. While the government continue to procrastinate no business will enter the arena.

It has been said that "Education maketh a man" . Education increases the levels of opportunity open to any individual. According to educational participation measurements, the three worst performing counties are Wexford, Monaghan and Roscommon which score participation rates of 13.13%, 13.10% and 12.16% respectively. This compares dramatically with the three best performing counties, South Dublin, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire, Rathdown, which scored 21.11%, 24.52% and 37.8% respectively. No real surprises here the eastern seaboard tops educational involvement. This can be attributed to the low level of investment in education in the West and particularly the northwest. I feel strongly that the presence of a University facility in the Sligo region is urgently required. The amalgamation and change of status of existing facilities is more than overdue. This is for three major reasons. Firstly Depopulation can be stalled and reversed by students staying in the west for third level while bringing in further students from all over the nation. Secondly the presence of research and scientific facilities is a common prerequisite for biotechnology firms in considering development locations And thirdly the employment and community advantages of a university both bond and augment communities. I will be publishing further proposals on this in the forth-coming months.

The population of Ireland is expected to rise to 4.5m people by 2020, with 616,000 new households being formed over the same period. Some two out of every five people in Ireland live in counties Dublin, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare and, according to the Department's research, this proportion is set to rise within the next 10 years The Department of the Environment has commissioned no less than 17 different consultancies. This investment also needs a strategy not confused and expensive consultancy reports. Fine Gael has identified eight or nine large towns around the regions, which can act as nodes or hubs for investment. The towns included in the Borders Midlands and West are Portlaois, Athlone and Sligo. It is not that all investment will be channelled through these towns, but that they can act as core centres. One obvious drawback of the current strategy is that although bodies such as ESB, the NRA and IDA Ireland are pressing ahead with there own strategies for developing the regions, the Government is pursuing a slow and ad hoc policy for spatial strategy. By attempting to keep so many towns happy the investment will be spread too thinly and therefore wasted. It brings to mind the politicking that hijacked the Government's plans to decentralise Government departments. The blindness of planning decisions that aim to draw in industry and development with out social and community facilities leads to social disaster. It is insulting to all workers to plan industrial development with out remembering the reason it was sought in the first place. Profit making should never be the only motive in industrial or development planning. It is obvious to any firm that a plan without adequate or attractive social and community facilities that their workforce will have a high turn over if their workers are unhappy. Given that Dublin is over-supplied with resources, many people question a government strategy that involves building a national stadium in Dublin, if at all. Roads, cables and electricity are not the only regional deficits in the west. Fine Gael will develop a framework for integrated area based strategies in both urban and rural areas centred on the village model. This will involve a process of audit, consultation with communities and public bodies and the development of area -based strategies. New funding mechanisms will be developed to support this approach. It will involve devolution of certain budgets to open up more local discretion. Fine Gael also proposes to facilitate the establishment of Local Community Development Funds by broadening the areas where tax relief for both individuals and companies would be obtained in the context of Community Action Programmes developed by a Local Development Company formed for the purpose. II have also called for the creation of a new department for the west with a dedicated ministerial function. This will draw together efficiently existing groups working in development in the West Midlands and Boarder regions but increase the resources available to these valuable and often neglected agencies.

My vision of the 2020 is one of people living, not just working, in the west. The alternative of empty do minatory towns with limited community involvement will happen if the planning process remains burdened, incomprehensive and with out any clear vision.

I propose much more consultation between the north and the Republic to deliver road, rail and energy links and cross-Border economic activity. This is in line with the recommendations of Report of the Panel Conducting the Public Examination of the Strategic Framework for Northern Ireland. The report has revised previous estimates for population decline and says a stable political situation would see the population of the region reach almost two million by 2025. The proposals in relations to the road networks are of particular interest. A a western corridor is proposed, facilitating links west of Lough Neagh between Donegal, Derry, Strabane, Monaghan and Dublin. To balance this with a southwestern corridor to run from Craigavon through the Fermanagh lake lands to Enniskillen and linking into routes to Sligo, Monaghan and Dublin. A series of public consultations were held last year in Derry about how the city should develop. There was a lot of enthusiasm for a cross-Border aspect to further economic growth, with potential for the city to develop its natural potential in the northwest region. The integration of roads and transport facilities are high on the local agenda and the strategy recommends that economic and physical plans for Derry, Strabane and Donegal should be linked in the interests of the whole area. The report concluded that the strategy should be to foster cross-Border co-operation in the economic development of the northwest.

Currently all the Government road initiatives centre on one incorrect premise - that all road lead to Dublin. In the 2020 I do not envisage all roads leading to Dublin. There is foolhardiness to this arrogant presumption. I propose upgrading in particular the N2 to Donegal, the N5 to Westport, the N4 to Sligo and in line with my proposal on cross boarder cooperation the N16. Roads are not just about lorries and commercial movement of goods. The quality of life, and cars are also dependent on a road network - that will still be with us in 2020. It is important that we receive definite promises for the government that this is going to take place with in a given timeframe. To date we have nothing. The government have clearly placed the eastern seaboard road development over the west. Time is running out for road initiatives. If firm commitments are not received very soon, road transportation in the year 2020 is likely to be a bumpy and uncomfortable experience. Flights are coming down in price; unfortunately again Mary O'Rourke's sympathy for the Aer Rianta monopoly position has deterred investment by aeronautical companies in the republic. Many carriers have left Dublin airport because of unsustainable and unfair pricing for use of terminals. Ryanair have repeatedly made it know that they will move operations away from the republic, in fact they have recently announce a investment package in Brussels because investment in the republic is unsustainable because of Mrs O'Rourke's friendship with Aer Rianta. They made this view clear through full-page advertisements in the national press.

As Christy Moore once sang From Fatima to Bethlehem and from Lourdes to Kiltimagh I've never seen a miracle like the airport up in Knock… With the governments current stand it will take a miracle to build and upgrade our Western Airport infrastructure. Rail links again are not just vital for business but the community. During the rail strike last week the RTE news carried an interview with a women who desperately needed to get to Sligo to see her sick father. The anxiety on her face and the disbelief that she had no viable way to reach her father spoke volumes about the need for rail infrastructure. Again Mary O'Rourke said plainly that the strike had nothing to do with her and it was a union problem. This abdicating of responsibility is deplorable. We expect out elected officials and our ministers to work for our best interests, not hid behind newly written job description.

The year 2020 will be bright if responsibility for the future is acknowledged, owned and acted on.