Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is important to understand in respect of broadband, and I made this point when the capital plan was announced last week, that the figure of €275 million in the plan is part of the cost of the national broadband plan. It is not the entire cost that we foresee. I will not put a specific cost on the plan because we are about to enter into a procurement process involving bidders to ensure we get the best possible deal for the Irish public in respect of the roll-out of high speed broadband. I can confirm to Deputy Moynihan and the committee that this figure of €275 million set aside in the capital plan will be used for the national broadband plan and that we will see what the bids are when the procurement process opens, which I expect to happen on schedule at the end of this year. To answer the Deputy’s question as to where we are at in respect of the plan, we have made enormous strides, particularly this year and are absolutely on schedule to go to procurement at the end of the year.

It required a huge input. I can go through the specifics of what we have been doing this year. The question the Deputy asked me, which he also asked me in the House, was not an unreasonable one. We have been in detailed discussion with the European Commission and are driving on with all the work we are doing with the private sector, which has contributed enormously to the roll-out of broadband. There is a great deal happening.

It was mentioned that it is patchy in some areas and some people asked is there another way of doing it. This is relevant to the broader question of measurement of outputs. I am absolutely convinced that we should do this once and do it right. Nobody will thank me, wherever I am in five years’ time, this committee, the Department or anybody else, if we engage in a piecemeal approach to the national broadband plan to achieve what Senator Mooney mentioned earlier and to ensure that every home and business in the State has access to high speed broadband. On our calculation, something of the order of 30%, perhaps somewhat less, will have to be dealt with through State intervention because the commercial operators will not make a profit in these areas. It is remarkable that the 30%, or of that order, does constitute something of the order of 96% of the territory of the State. Practically every farm in the State is in the amber area, I doubt there is a farm in the blue area, and broadband will be of great benefit to farming. If one was thinking about this as a road building programme, it is equivalent to 100,000 km. That is a State intervention, which is on a par with the electrification initiative of a previous generation.