Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending. Earlier the Minister said that one part of the discussions he had with the chief executive of Eir at the end of August related to this critical issue for investment in broadband infrastructure of the county and the regulatory process and how fibre-to-the-cabinet is done. The Minister said that this was a matter for the Oireachtas committee. Did the Minister or his officials contact the committee at the time and suggest that we would consider the issue given it was of real significance for the roll-out of broadband in the country? Did we get correspondence in that regard?

I am glad that the Minister is agreeing to the sharing of one of the earlier correspondence letters regarding Eir's discussions with the Department. I do not want anything to be done that would interrupt the bidding process but will the Minister make available all the correspondence he has had with Eir on the scheme? The Minister has already shared the letter that he wrote last week and has willingly agreed to further correspondence being shared, but we need all the correspondence between Eir and the Minister or his officials to enable us to get a proper picture. The Minister said that the approach in terms of the commitment project in respect of 300,000 houses was agreed last summer.