Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I will add to that, Chairman. I would be agreeable to that suggestion. This was quite controversial at the time. There was only one bid at the end and there were question marks, first of all, about who would own the asset at the end. The second issue was the ability of the entity actually to deliver because its experience had been more on the financial side than delivery on the telecommunications side. We always understood this was about the number of houses and businesses that were passed.

One of the reasons we would have been concerned is that the cost of broadband may not be sufficiently attractive for people to take up the opportunity to connect to broadband. There has never been a greater need, which I believe we all appreciate. The previous year has certainly demonstrated that broadband is an essential service.

We are right to interrogate what exactly this tender guaranteed. What they are doing now is largely overlaying on existing infrastructure. The entity that originally considered pitching for the broadband plan then withdrew. Some of its apparatus is being used, for instance, telephone poles and so on. There are a number of issues regarding what is being paid to those entities.

When I asked who would benefit from it, I was told that the State would benefit from the use. We might ask how that is transpiring in reality.