Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The officials will also answer that.

The letter of 30 January refers to a discussion I had with Richard Moat on 30 August. During my discussion with Mr. Moat on 30 August, he provided me with an update on the Eir build-out to the 300,000 premises and I can provide the Deputy with a copy of that presentation. Two others issues came up at that meeting. Mr. Moat raised the issue of the ComReg pricing structure for fibre-to-the-cabinet. He pointed out to me that if this pricing structure remained in place, it would jeopardise future investment that would take place in the country because companies, including Eir, but not exclusive to Eir, would not get the opportunity to get a return on the investment they put in. I pointed out to Mr. Moat that this was a regulatory matter, that it was an issue for ComReg and, as I have said before, the appropriate mechanism to deal with that is through the committee because ComReg is answerable to the committee and not answerable to me. The other issue I raised with Richard Moat was one raised in the House in the past few days, namely, the gap in the build-out in respect of the 300,000 premises. Deputy Sean Sherlock mentioned a location where the fibre was very close to some houses with 12 poles on one side and 12 poles on the other side and asked whether those houses would be part of the final 542,000 premises. The answer is they will. During the discussion I had with Richard Moat on 30 August, I raised a number of issues and gave the example of my own primary school, Ardkeenan national school just outside Athlone in County Roscommon, where the Eir fibre roll-out turned at the cross roads about 1 km from the school. I pointed out that there were a number of community buildings and clusters of homes in the vicinity. At another location in Kiltoom, with the exception of five houses, every house along the road was left out. I made the point that Eir should review this process, particularly where it had not already built out and had only started the build-out at that stage. He agreed that would make sense and that it would make sense at the design stage to try to deal with those issues. I gave a commitment to him, with his agreement, that I would ask the broadband officers across the country to identify these particular anomalies, compile a list and submit them to his office. He agreed that he would ask his team to have a look at that list. This information was submitted towards the end of last year - I am not sure of the date - but Eir is working on that issue at present. Let me double check the figures in this regard. Eir has passed 121,000 of the 300,000 to which it committed, but it has also passed another 11,000 homes that were not part of that number. These are the types of anomalies that had been raised.

Deputy Dooley raised the letter of 17 July, and subject to any redaction needed, I am happy to have that letter released.

Both Deputies Dooley and Stanley asked for my best estimate on timing. The reason I have been very hesitant about putting dates out in the public arena is that everyone present has been embarrassed and frustrated by company press releases promising they would bring broadband to A, B, and C by a certain date but not mentioning the year. We are still waiting in some of those locations for the broadband. I did not want a situation where members of the public would be told they would get broadband by one date only then to be given a different date, thereby making a joke out of the system. It is a complex procurement process.

The timeline we were looking at, up to 30 January, was that we expected to have the preferred bidder by September and that I would be in a position to go to the Cabinet in that month and name the preferred bidder in that process. As for whether we can truncate that, I think we can truncate it a little and it is my intention to try to ensure we can. There would be a time lag from naming the bidder to actual construction because the preferred bidder would have to negotiate with the banks. I know the European Investment Bank, whose representative I met in Dublin within the past fortnight, is anxious to engage and has been engaging with both Eir and enet-SSE. Some other investors are looking at bankrolling this project as well and they can now engage at a much earlier stage. That is the reason I have made the point that it will mean shovels on the ground more quickly because we can definitely truncate the second part of the process. I do not know the best estimate on time because the team accompanying me today were to be talking with the consortium this week, but they have been tied up with me on Tuesday, Wednesday and today and will be dealing with me and with broadband next Tuesday and Wednesday. Subject to that work, they will be engaging with enet-SSE quite soon.

Deputy Dooley has raised the issue of a 19-month delay. As the procurement process has been under way for 25 months, there was never any intention that this procurement process could be done in six months. That was never envisaged.