The Minister for Communications, Dermot Ahern, has defended the Government's efforts to make Internet broadband access more widely available.
Mr Ahern said broadband was now available to 3% of the population and this was rapidly increasing.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio, the minister said Ireland had encountered more difficulties with providing broadband than other countries because service providers had not invested in it.
Mr Ahern was in Wexford today to open the new €18 million southeast broadband project.
The project, which involved the laying of 86km of high speed Internet cable in five counties, is the largest of the national fibre network programmes involving €65 million investment.
Wexford, Carlow, Dungarvan and Clonmel are among the 19 towns included.
Earlier, Mr Ahern said his department was beginning to roll-out the regional broadband programme which would bring high-speed communication links to another 350,000 people in 41 more towns.
