I welcome the agreement reached by Vodafone and ESB to use the latter's network to bring fibre optic broadband to rural Ireland. This is a great move, as there are many broadband blackspots in rural Ireland where the ESB has a good infrastructure.

I also welcome yesterday's change to the rural development programme. We received word that the Minister would change the criteria for the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS. The issue of commonages also presented a major problem in recent weeks.