The incoming chair of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation has said that changes to Ireland’s planning rules need to be made in order to support infrastructural investment.
Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary, who succeeds BT Ireland CEO Colm O’Neill as head of the Ibec group, said there needed to be a more joined-up approach to planning here.
She said permission for work can often be refused for “arbitrary reasons” and that getting permission to dig up roads was “unduly onerous”.
“These barriers must be addressed to provide communities with the connectivity they need,” she said.
Speaking at the TIF’s Annual Digital Lunch in Dublin, Ms O’Leary welcomed the Government’s intention to roll out a National Broadband Plan, which aimed to provide connectivity to the entire country.
She also said that telecom operators needed to continue their own investment in Ireland, which amounted to €3.2 billion in the past five years, but this would only be possible in a pro-investment environment.
