Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I do not accept that mistakes have been made in the way this has been conducted. To put this in context, over €3 billion has been invested in providing high-speed broadband to urban communities. All the contractors are committing to have fibre to the home in urban areas. The decision in the programme for Government to adopt an ambition of having high-speed broadband available to every home so no one would be left behind was the right decision. In the event, all the bidders proposed that fibre to the home was the most cost-effective way of delivering it.

At the point at which some of the contractors withdrew, the interrogation of what was being offered was well under way. All three bidders had brought forward proposals in the competitive dialogue. The Department had a strong understanding, therefore, of the parameters of the programme, the likely cost, the technology options and so on. Eir continued to the penultimate stage. Two bidders submitted proposals, which included their assessments of the subsidy required. At the point that Eir withdrew, it was not at a very early stage, leaving one bidder with no benchmark against which its bid could be judged. The Department had been involved in the process over a long period and one of the bidders had gone a significant distance down the road.

On the skills and project management required to roll the plan out, I assure the Deputy that at every point, whenever there was a change in the make-up of the consortium, there was a thorough reassessment of the capacity of the bidder to complete the project. In many cases, the subcontractors to be used were identical for all the bidders. It was not a question of hiring people with no experience. The capacity of the remaining consortium was tested, as was required in the contract, to ensure it was capable of managing the process. Nevertheless, we recognise that one of the criteria for the success of a project such as this, if it is adopted by the Government, will be the governance put in place by the State to oversee not only the contract but many provisions therein that are designed to protect the taxpayer. We recognise that we will not rely exclusively on the company and instead we will have our own governance to protect the taxpayer. We will undertake that work, which will provide a double protection for the State should it decide to proceed with the contract. I understand the concerns, which have also been expressed by other Deputies in the House. We have taken them into account throughout my Ministry and I have always cross-examined what is being done to be satisfied that we accommodate, recognise and take into account concerns raised by Deputy Dooley or other Deputies in our management of the situation. I am satisfied that we have done that, although I will be happy to share more details with the committee in due course, irrespective of how it develops.