Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to subhead A3, the Minister stated, in the context of programme A, that €15 million is included. That is not new money. That was in the original Estimate. Is that not correct? As a result, there is no change. The only change is that there is almost €1.5 million less to be spent than was originally estimated, if I am reading the Minister's communication correctly. The 2017 Estimate was €20.49 million and the figure for 2018 is €19.04 million. Therefore, less money is being spent than was projected. Reading the communication, one would believe there is an extra €15 million. This speaks to the point about how serious the Department is in terms of rolling out high-speed broadband. I agree with everything the Minister said in his introduction but we are still no further on. I recall the same process last year. Perhaps the figure was €5 million at the time. We are still progressing through. I do not want to rehash the debates that the Minister, others and I have had the time out of number but there is nothing in this Estimate that would lead me to believe there is a greater level of activity. Perhaps the Minister could bring us up to speed on the current position and reaching a conclusion with the one remaining bidder.

Since the decision was taken by Eir, I am sure the Minister, like me, has met plenty of people who cannot understand why it is taking so long to get high-speed broadband. They are deeply concerned about the potential delays and want to see the matter brought to a conclusion as quickly as possible. In that context, could the Minister outline the current position?

There are some savings on staffing. There is also a projected reduction of €654,000 regarding multimedia developments. How did that come about? There are some savings on administration.