Mr. Fergal Mulligan:

We would not be sitting here if we did not think the gap funding model worked. There are many reports, but I will take the Deputy through six points I would like to articulate.

The gap funding model still achieves the policy objective which is to provide people in rural and other parts of Ireland with high speed broadband. In our view, the gap funding model and the solution we have on the table will achieve that objective. The contract we will have in place by the time it is signed will ensure that objective is met with the necessary rigour and oversight to ensure these guys deliver.

In terms of where one’s starting point is, what is one trying to achieve? One is trying to achieve a policy objective of ubiquitous high speed broadband. Regardless of which model one chooses, the gap funding model will achieve that objective. I assume a concession model would achieve the same objective. Before and after Eircom left, the gap funding model would have achieved the same objective.

I think the question the Deputy is asking and what some commentators have said is the gap funding model is based on two premises, namely, competition in the process and it is much cheaper. The premise for the decision was not those two issues. What can be seen in the 2015 consultation reports and the reappraisal report is a wide array of matters which were taken in the round in considering what was the most appropriate model. The policy objective is the starting point. The gap funding model, similar to a concession model, supports all state aid and market requirements. It is a wholesale open access network, fully regulated, with products and prices and allows for effective competition at the retail level. Both models do this. The gap funding model is positive in terms of meeting not only state aid requirements but also market requirements. It is akin to what ComReg tries to achieve with the private operators that it regulates such as Eircom.

It will all be on the basis of appropriate governance. It is all absolutely wedded to the appropriate governance model being in place from day one for 25 years. Everything carries that big health warning. Whatever model one chooses, one must have appropriate governance by the Department, or whatever it decides to do in the future with an agency. That is absolutely fundamental.