Mr. Robert Mourik:

I will try to give the Deputy some assurance that access to poles and ducts will be provided relatively efficiently and effectively. The nub of his question is whether we can guarantee that a company such as Eir which has all of those poles will provide access. We have powers under legislation to do two things and are doing them. We are setting prices for access to the poles and ducts. As I pointed out in response to Deputy Dooley, we have prices in the market for access to the poles and are looking at whether they need to be revised. It is to be hoped we can consult on that matter later this year. Under these powers, we can request information from Eir and dig deep into what the costs should be before we set anything. We have very strong legal powers.

A second important aspect is the more functional requirements of pole and duct access. In November last year we issued a new decision about the manner in which Eircom must give access to poles and ducts. The decision is quite detailed, but in summary, there are now very detailed provisions to ensure Eircom will provide access to its ducts and poles in exactly the same manner as it uses them. For example, it has just rolled out fibre to the home in the 300,000 area. It must give the same access to any party. We have ensured the provisions and obligations we put on Eircom are in line with best practice in Europe. It is not just a matter of having these legal powers. We have made pricing decisions surrounding functioning access. It is now a matter of following through. In this case, National Broadband Ireland can apply for access with Eir. Issues or problems can be raised with ComReg and we can adjudicate on those matters.