Lord Dodds of Duncairn
Main Page: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Dodds of Duncairn's debates with the Leader of the House
(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hunt
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I think that the impact will be huge. The iPlayer is already a very big source of demand for broadband, and as YouView arrives many more people will use the iPlayer and other such services. I am pleased to say that Wales is making excellent progress. Its broadband plans have been given the green light and we have had a good partnership with the Welsh Government. I hope that his constituents will benefit from that.
Mr Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)
Following on from the Secretary of State’s report on Wales, will he update us on the situation in Northern Ireland? What discussions has he had with the Northern Ireland Executive and what progress has been made there?
Mr Hunt
We have had very good discussions. There is good news and bad news as far as Northern Ireland is concerned. The funding allocation has been quite small for Northern Ireland, but that is because it has one of the best superfast broadband networks in the UK and, in many ways, is a model for the rest of the country.