Disability lobby group lambasts inadequate broadband availability

THE disability lobby has criticised the Government for restricting opportunities through delays in rolling out high quality internet access.

People with Disabilities Ireland said its members rely heavily on broadband internet to develop professional careers.

However, as Ireland lags behind other European countries in terms of broadband communication these options are not being developed.

PwDI chief executive Michael Ringrose said if broadband was available in more parts of the country people with disabilities could explore business ideas.

“Slow connection speeds and poor availability of broadband mean that the Government will have difficulty achieving its goals of supporting small businesses.

“The current broadband penetration rate in Ireland is woefully inadequate compared with other European states,” he said.

Last week the Communications Regulator (ComReg) released its quarterly report which included the most up-to-date broadband information.

Although penetration levels here had risen to cover 14% of the country it was still 4% shy of the European average.

And Ireland’s level of broadband penetration is still less than half the figure for the most advanced European countries of the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland.

Mr Ringrose said this made his membership more vulnerable than necessary.

“People with disabilities are among the most adversely affected, since they are proportionally more dependent upon this type of technology,” he said.

The latest ComReg report showed Ireland had made improvements in broadband however IT commentator Damien Mulley said the positive trend was blurred by the inclusion of mobile services too early in their development.

He said many people connecting by mobile were experiencing connection speeds much slower than broadband should be.

In advance of a international conference on e-technology and disability starting in Dublin today Mr Ringrose said the current situation had to be addressed as a matter of urgency.