Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am making the other argument. Some 1.9 million properties have been connected by the private sector without any subsidy. We probably did not think it would connect that many five years ago. I am playing the devil's advocate. The private sector has connected 1.9 million without a penny from the State. It now sees that the State is going to sign a massive cheque. Of course commercial firms will hang back, knowing that the taxpayer is going to subsidise the rest of it. They were never going to complete the 2.3 million, but they could certainly have gone further than they have up to now. That figure of 1.9 million could be 2.1 million or 2.2 million. At this point 80% of the work has been done commercially. Why is 20% the magic figure at which there is no more scope for commercial operations? I am worried that the existence of this plan will bring the cost onto the taxpayer. I am being the devil's advocate by saying that if this subsidy was not there, some of these people would be getting commercial connections.