Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for his comments to the wider committee for the work done on climate change. The Minister has had an opportunity since taking office to look at where the situation with the national broadband plan now rests. When he looks back at how we got to the position we are in, does he have any concerns about the tendering process and the competitive dialogue process entered into, in particular the decision taken by the Department at the time? I carefully suggest it was taken in good faith, based on the recommendations to go down the gap funding model. It was KPMG or perhaps PwC that did a report at the time on the ownership model that would best give the State best value for money.

At the time the gap-funding model was chosen because two players in the State had very considerable assets deployed from a broadband perspective and because their existence in the process effectively ensured best value for money. We know that over time both those companies pulled out. It could be contended that the State should have stalled the horses at that stage, regrouped and taken stock of the situation to ensure we were not left with one pretty small operator as the only potential bidder in the race.

In a perhaps convoluted way, I come to my question. Looking back, does the Minister have any concerns that the best path might not have been chosen? Should greater care have been taken at an earlier stage to ensure the State got best value for money and was not left with just one bidder in the race?