Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to point out that when I first became a Member of the Oireachtas, I was a member of this committee - it was previously the committee on transport, communications and sport, I think, and tourism might have been thrown into it as well - and this was the single biggest issue by a country mile facing most Deputies, particularly from rural constituencies, from 2011 onwards. There was a requirement for an intervention. Nobody was going to do this. The commercial companies all made it very clear that they were not going to make an intervention. The Government decided at the time to make an intervention. There were many high-profile opponents to it. They said it was a total waste of money and asked why we would give people in rural Ireland the same level of connectivity as they have in Ranelagh, but it has been transformative. The Deputy knows, representing as she does a rural constituency, that were it not for it and the €2 billion the Government put on the table to make sure there was an intervention area, we would never have been able to see what I saw on Achill last week. People have come back to Achill Island and the west of Ireland to rear families and be part of the community. Now they can work in the UK or in Dublin remotely and it has been transformative. There will be, I imagine, a shortfall this year. That is normal. I do not have a final figure yet. I have to go to the Government with it. That is because it is running way faster than we had anticipated. It is running way ahead of schedule and it has the capacity to finish about two years earlier, which is phenomenal, but within budget. We are not looking for extra money; a profiling of the money is what we will be looking for. As they have gone around the country, they have found first of all a great level of success working with local authorities, which have the local knowledge, and they have been able to connect and offer connections far ahead of profile. That is an amazing achievement. In Mayo last week, that was very evident.

The Deputy asked about the commercial companies. The commercial companies opted out at the start, and that is why we needed a plan. The commercial companies are there because they will be the retail providers. National Broadband Ireland is essentially the wholesaler, and the retailers will be the people advertising for connections. Ultimately, the success here is that it is on budget and way ahead of schedule and has been transformative. There will be a requirement for a reprofiling of money this year. I do not have a final figure for that yet but I hope to have it for the Government in the autumn .