Mr. Ciar?n ? h?b?in:

I thank the Deputy. He is correct in saying the roll-out was delayed, but he is also correct in saying that people will be waiting for a number of years. This is a seven-year infrastructure build programme. It is guaranteeing that people will have access to a high-speed broadband network when it reaches them, and that will be for the 25 years, and really the 35 years, that the contract provides for. It is a long-term strategy to ensure the future for people.

The broadband connection points comprised an element of the programme to recognise that, right across the country, the network roll-out would take seven years. Every county will see activity and have homes passed this year, but the majority of the network is yet to be built. The map of Ireland on which you can see where the broadband connection points are was an attempt to ensure that, throughout every county in Ireland, there would be somewhere, not too distant from where people are living, that they could access community-----