Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Okay, we will request that information. I do not want to be too parochial about it but only a quarter of the submissions from Laois and Offaly were accepted. We need to ascertain the reasons for that and the wide variations in the total amounts allocated.

No. R1908B is from Mr. Mark Griffin, Secretary General at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, dated 23 May. It provides the information we requested regarding the number of public buildings connected to the national broadband network. It is proposed to note and publish this correspondence. I flagged this for discussion. Any progress is welcome on this because it is badly needed. They said the design work is completed in townlands across every county with in excess of 384,000 premises surveyed. More than 40,000 fibre broadband connections to premises have been completed across all counties. Some 151,000 premises across all counties can place an order. From that it looks like 40,000 households now have fibre broadband connections.

With regard to the overall targets, the correspondence states that the final remedial plan under the contract was concluded in December 2002. There were a couple of changes before this. The targets were revised downwards. National Broadband Ireland, NBI, is committed to delivering a cumulative target of 185,000 premises to be passed by the end of January 2024. The original target for January 2023 was that a figure in excess of that - 204,000 - was to be passed. We know Covid took three to four months out of the schedule but it still seems to be way behind. When we have that Department in again, we need to ask questions about the pace of the roll-out The reply is putting the best foot forward but the reality is that by next January we will not even have reached the target that was set for last January. I estimate that the company is 15 months behind with the national broadband plan, as it stands. I just wanted to flag it to members. A large cost is involved. It is estimated that 600,000 premises in total between farms, households, businesses, public buildings, etc. are to be catered for. There is a big spend and it is moving quite slowly. The company is missing the revised targets but it missed the original targets by 15 months. Approximately one quarter of this could be explained by Covid but not any more than that.

I will now move on to correspondence from, and related to, private individuals, and other correspondence. At last week's meeting we agreed to hold over the a number of items for consideration today.

The first is R1888C, dated 12 May from an individual. This regards concerns about the regional racecourses. It is proposed to request the correspondent's consent to forward the letter to Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, and to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and to request a response on the matters raised. No. 1888 is from the United Irish Racecourses, UIR. This is a group of smaller, regional racecourses. It comprises five members: Kilbeggan, Sligo, Roscommon, Limerick and Thurles. They are raising the issue of media-derived finance for the racecourses.

They are raising the issue of finance derived from the selling of media rights and data rights for racecourses. They set out very clearly in their document that on the basis of the current HRI configuration, the racecourses they represent are being left behind. There is a table on the second page from which members will see that, in respect of the capital grants disbursed by HRI – obviously, this would form a part – Thurles got only €8,000 and Kilbeggan got €28,000, whereas Leopardstown, which happens to be owned by HRI, got €7 million, and the Curragh, in which HRI has a sizeable share of just over one third, got €12 million. That is an issue that we need to address. HRI negotiated the media rights on behalf of the racecourses. Basically, the deal was changed. I am referring to the deal to receive a fixed fee rather than 7% of total revenue. It has resulted in HRI receiving €14 million between 2015 and 2020. UIR is alleging that the money was subsequently invested in major capital projects at four of the largest racecourses in the country. I understand that Leopardstown is completely owned by HRI and that HRI has a sizeable share in the Curragh. I think it is one third.

In 2016, HRI agreed to facilitate an independent review of media rights and money, but that has not happened. My information is that HRI has not entered into a service level agreement with the racecourses for the bidding process, despite having been requested to do so. HRI is refusing to appoint an independent arbitrator to resolve the matter. As a result, I suggest that we write to HRI to ask it to consider appointing an independent arbitrator to help resolve the issue, that there be a service level agreement with the racecourses in respect of the bidding process and that the review of media rights that I am informed was agreed to in 2016, although I am open to correction, now happen. If members are happy enough with that, we will see what response we get. It is important to the viability of racecourses that are on the back foot that they get a fair divvy-out. Some of them are in need of capital funding. Is that agreed? Agreed.

There are two more items of correspondence. I propose that we deal with them in private session. We will come back to them in a few minutes.