Danny Healy-Rae warns of broadband blackspots and sewage failures
Danny Healy-Rae spoke about rural broadband gaps, post office services and environmental infrastructure in his 27 May 2020 speech. He argued that lack of broadband and long-delayed treatment plants are undermining remote working, farming and local communities.
Local services and remote working
He thanked post offices, local broadcasters including Radio Kerry, and local journalists, and warned that more post office closures must be avoided. He highlighted widespread difficulty for people to join Zoom meetings and that remote working is being hampered by poor broadband coverage.
Specific broadband blackspots and rollout issues
He gave examples of pockets without service where fibre passes a gate but no connection is provided because a distribution box sits 400 to 500 metres away and would serve only 11 houses. He quoted that Eir/Aire says National Broadband Ireland will do the work and be paid for it, leaving some households without timely access. He named local areas affected as Dukareg, Behinuk, Ginebgile, Kilkoman, Rabie and Turin-Kahill.
Farming, online requirements and climate remarks
He defended farmers from being blamed for climate damage, saying "it's not the farmers is to blame because they're farming away," and described clearer skies when planes reduced. He noted farmers were required to submit single farm payment applications online this year and found it difficult to get help, and he criticised talk of additional taxes on hauliers.
Sewage treatment delays and water quality concerns
He urged attention to long-delayed treatment plants, citing Kilkumen waiting 18 years and Castle Island waiting 33 years for schemes. He said villages such as Coran, Scottedlin and Brasley cannot get planning permission to build because of lack of treatment plants, and blamed local authorities for much of the pollution affecting rivers, lakes and bathing areas, citing declines from "excellent" to lower ratings in some spots.
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Deputy Hilly Ray. I too want to thank our post for the great service that have been given and are still giving right around the country and hope that no more post offices will be closed down. I want to thank our local broadcasters, especially Radio Kerry. I want to thank our local journalists. And I just want to highlight one thing. They're having a difficulty in getting into these Zoom meetings. I have been, that has been explained to me right around the country. It's a problem and I think it's not fair that they should be allowed to do that and to link in. Remote working is the order of the day. But however, I have to say to you that in Kerry anyway, it's hardly possible at all because of the amount of places that are without broadband or without broadband coverage and you could place it. There's pockets, Minister. I've explained it to you before. There's fibre passing outside one man's gate and he urgently needs it. But because there's no break in the line, in the fibre, it's maybe 400 or 500 metres up the road before there's a black box and you need one of those and it does 11 houses. He, and we're being taught by Aire that National Broadband Ireland is going to do it and they'll be paid for it so Aire won't do it. And you have pockets like, between Dukareg and Behinuk, you have pockets Ginebgile, Kilkoman, Rabie and Turin-Kahill, different places left out and people, children and farmers are expected to go online and, and even the farmers there were told that they'd have to, and they had to this year, submit their single foreign payment applications online and it was very tough on them to get someone else to do it for them and it's not fair that they had to do that. Then in relation to climate and there's every minute of every day, there's someone talking about climate and climate change and the one thing that we're clear and sure of now is it's not the farmers is to blame because they're farming away. But maybe if you took a look up at the sky, where the planes are missing from, and I remember one morning, until the 21st of August, 2019, I was a quarter to six, I looked out, looked outside the door and looked up at the sky. 33 lines of jets passing overhead and a blue sky over that. When I went out ten minutes later, all the droppings on the plane had merged, the planes had merged together, no sign of my blue sky, gone, gone completely. However, in recent times, we can see a blue sky from as far as, as, as we can see on either end and, and, and, and, and we're glad to see that, but it's very easy to blame the farmer or the poor man or woman going to work. Are, are, are, are, are the haulers who, who are going through every hoop to deliver what they have to do and, and, and, and are penalized in every way and, and, and now we're talking about increasing cabin tax and, um, it's very easy to blame these people when the, the missions are really, it's up, we should be looking and not down. I, I, I love my, our environment as much as anyone else and seek to protect our rivers and our lakes in every way, but instead of talking about the climate minister, why don't you talk about the treatment plants around the country and take our county, Kilkumen waiting for the treatment plant for 18 years, Castle Island waiting for an extinction of a sewer scheme for 33 years, and in the states like Coran, Scottedlin and Brasley, they can't, they can't get permission there to build a house around the, the villages, because there's no treatment plant. All it's right in, so, so, instead of looking, blaming the farmers and, and other people for, for, for damaging our environment, here to blame as well, because it's a fact that the local authorities, that the local authorities right around the country, not alone in Kerry, are to blame for the most pollution of our rivers and lakes, and indeed, our bathing areas, we're down in a number of places, our, our, uh, Valley Bonin in different places, they've gone from excellent to, down to very good or whatever, that, it's back where we're going, because he's not looking at the things that he should be dealing with and putting money into it, several governments, governments, the, the, the last one and the one before, have let rural Ireland down in relation to providing treatment plants, and, and, and, and, and to deal with the environment in, in, in our county, anyway. Time is up, thank you very much, Deputy, must be very interesting living on that flight path. Yeah, but, it, that is the truth, and, I don't doubt it, I don't doubt it.
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