Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is a bit like one of these people who say "and here is one I baked earlier". That is not me. That does not reflect me at all. I have trouble finding the right dial on the oven, but that is neither here nor there. I happen to have the press statement from the Department. I completely concur with what Deputy MacSharry has said.

It is really annoying when a report arrives the day before a meeting because one needs time to study it and it was appropriate for today.

There were approximately ten recommendations that the Department drew attention to in its opening statement. Most of those were implemented and some remain in progress. It looks like there has been great progress. The only way we can test that is by asking the people who are the subject of this and it is helpful to us to have that kind of understanding so as we make sure we get the optimum regulation and a cost effective delivery of broadband, where it is in place and where it may, and should, be in place in the future.

It would be useful if Mr. Evans could give us a note, even after the meeting, in response to the kinds of things that are supposed to be implemented and if he believes they are not implemented. That would be useful for us to hear. We only got this report yesterday evening.

Moving to the national broadband plan, BT has considerable expertise in the area of broadband, as outlined by Mr. Evans in is opening statement, as do other providers. BT considered making a bid and it probably would have been beneficial if there was a lot of bids and a large amount of competitive tension. BT considered partnering with Gigabit. What put BT off? Did it not make the cut? Were we comparing apples and oranges? Why did BT not proceed to make a bid?