Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 11 April 2017

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Revised)

4:00 pm

Photo of Brian StanleyBrian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good news that homes are being connected and there is a timeline for it. However, I still have concerns about the 300,000 homes to be connected. I will put the connection of the 750,000 homes in the following scenario. The Minister has 75 acres of land and he wants to sell them to me. However, in the meantime, he decides to sell off 30 of the best acres to Deputy Lowry, for example. That means 45 acres of marginal land are left which is less attractive.

If this broadband roll-out is done as a package, it is aggregated out better. Whichever one of the three bidders does it and is dealing with the full 750,000 households, it means the easy-to-reach ones will be done in this 90-week bundle as they are more commercially viable. The aggregate cost of trying to get to the hard-to-reach houses in the more difficult areas of counties Roscommon or Laois would balance out.

I welcome the fact that 300,000 easy-to-reach homes will be connected in the plan. It is happy days for them and many people in my constituency will benefit from it. However, like the 30 good acres which were sold, for the 400,000 homes outside of that, it will be less attractive for the companies to connect them. Will a larger subvention be required per household from the taxpayer because whoever takes on these 400,000 premises has a harder job to do?

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