Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy Dooley that there is no foundation to the concept that those who were in the competition felt that a cap of €500 million had been imposed. As I have indicated, at the penultimate stage, before the receipt of final bids, two bidders were submitting proposals, which included their assessment of the subsidy required, and that allowed comparisons to be made. Both Granahan McCourt and one of the bidders which subsequently pulled out had reached the point where they were making their financial assessments of what it would cost. I have no reason to second-guess what the companies said about why they withdrew. They both gave reasons in public and I will not enter a debate about why companies made that decision. The figure of €500 million which has been kicked around related to an entirely different type of proposal, dating back to a much earlier stage when what was being considered was covering a certain number of villages with a hub point. It was not intended at that point that service would be delivered to every home and, therefore, the number to which Deputy Dooley refers related to a much narrower concept.

On the timing of the review, I am working to a schedule which the Taoiseach flagged in the Dáil. He would like me to be in a position to have completed my review and be able to make a recommendation to the Government by Easter. He also flagged that issues such as Brexit could change the precise timing of the Government's schedule, depending on what is being handled in the context of Brexit. My objective is to be in a position to bring forward a proposal around Easter.