Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was not done the way we are doing it, with respect to my colleagues in Northern Ireland.

Different approaches are taken and we have stated we want a minimum speed of 30 megabits per second, Mbps. I want this to be understood because some people believe the speed will be up to 30 Mbps, which not the case. What we expect to be delivered under the national broadband plan by the successful bidder or bidders is a minimum of 30 Mbps and it needs to be future-proofed.

Under the rules, we cannot select a technology. Colleagues who are familiar with the issue, of whom there are many, will know that if this is to be done right, the technology must be able to take high-speed broadband into homes and businesses. We are engaged in achieving this. It is important to note that we have been working closely with the European Commission on this issue throughout the year and members can go through a schedule of the specific steps we have taken. I assure the joint committee that the approach we are taking is focused on doing this once and doing it right, rather than in bits and pieces. To give an example of a step we have taken this year, we addressed the new state aid guidelines which were finalised by the Commission after the national broadband plan was published.

Global demand for data is increasing dramatically throughout the world, including here, and we have increased our ambition in response to this demand. Members will have noted the introduction of a Vodafone-ESB joint venture, SIRO. My predecessor in the Department, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, introduced legislation to provide for this development and SIRO is now driving competition. In addition, investment by industry has increased significantly, partly driven by the State. The State has an intervention role and the Department is ensuring the private sector is pushing ahead. Competition in the sector is working.

Members referred to a number of forms of technology. While we are prevented from selecting a technology, to do this right it is likely that fibre will be a key part of the network build. It will also be a wholesale network and the minimum requirement, as I stated, is 30 Mbps.

We want the plan to be future-proofed. To return to the measurement of outputs, it will only ever be possible to measure the real output on the national broadband plan when somebody else is sitting in my seat. That is the difficulty. As a politician, I would like to be able to state that last week the State served X number of new premises and so forth. However, the private sector, working with the State, has significantly increased what is has done and it is being driven by the Government. For example, the number of homes and premises with access to high-speed broadband has increased from 300,000 in 2010 to 1.3 million currently. The commercial sector will increase this figure to 1.9 million by 2020. I accept that these figures are of no benefit to those who do not have access to high-speed broadband. If, however, the joint committee wants to measure outputs, it should note the substantial increase in the number of homes and premises served by high-speed broadband. The Department will ensure the current figure of 1.3 million continues to increase.