Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. O'Leary rightly identified that 300,000 customers will benefit and have broadband, and went on to state it will make the process a little more difficult for the ESB. It is a little bit like the television programme, "Dragons' Den", when the dragons say, "I'm out". The ESB is out. While I do not carry any flag for Eir, the truth is that its investment on a commercial basis will put it in a much stronger position to offer a better deal to the State, based on the level of subvention required to reach the 540,000 customers. It should have not been a surprise to any of us, although perhaps it was yesterday, that Eir was in a position to deliver against what the Government required for the citizens in question at a lower cost to the taxpayer.