Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 15 February 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

National Broadband Plan: Discussion (Resumed)

10:00 am

Mr. Ciarán Ó hÓbáin:

I will make a final comment and then pass the Deputy on to the programme director because many of the his questions are relevant questions from last week in the context of value for money and next steps. The competitive dialogue process is absolutely appropriate to a project such as this on account of its uniqueness. We understand the frustration of people who are waiting for high-speed broadband and one of the members of the team is in the amber area and reminds us of it on a daily basis. It is an effective methodology for the project and we have learned that it is impossible to deliver a project of this sort on the basis of the standard tender process. For the State to define the outcome, it has to engage with industry. I am happy to talk the Deputy through the stages of the timeline, if that is helpful.