Ms Michelle Gildernew:

It is great to see everyone here today from Mr. Campbell's team, they are all welcome back to the committee. For a very small team, it punches above its weight and we are very lucky to have the ICBAN team to represent the central Border region. I particularly welcome my party colleague, Councillor Gary Doherty, and also my constituency colleague, Councillor Paul Robinson. It is great to see everyone, but that is a wee special mention for those two.

There is so much I could ask Mr. Campbell given the challenges in our area of deprivation including hidden poverty, higher cost of living including housing, fuel and food, the poor roads, the minimal rail infrastructure - we only have rail in Sligo and Portadown on either side of that huge swathe. My question refers to what the report calls the fourth essential utility, broadband. I welcome what was said today about the potential for claw-back and the difficulties that have arisen out of previous broadband initiatives. Broadband provision is particularly bad in two council areas, Fermanagh and Omagh and Mid Ulster, in that order. These are the council areas most populated by those not boxed that Mr. Campbell mentioned. With the benefit of hindsight, given what the NIAO and the Comptroller and Auditor General have said recently, and looking at the experiences of NIBIP and SRP2 and the difficulties there, and trying to balance the commercial exercise with the need to provide essential services, does Mr. Campbell think Fibrus and Project Stratum should learn from the audit office report and concentrate on getting everyone over the 30 Mbps required for minimal broadband, even if some of those areas have the potential to go to ultra-fast?