Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The Deputy's point is a good one. This is why a value-for-money report is ongoing in my Department to assess the difficulties as we roll out MANs in terms of backhaul connection but also in terms of what is known as the drop connection to get from the fibre optic ring to the business. The Deputy is correct that once a roadway must be dug up to install such a connection, the costs can be of the order of €10,000. We must examine this to find how we can be more flexible and help that service to the door.

One encouraging indicator is that E-Net in its operations has seen a 59% increase in turnover from 2006 to April 2007 from a low initial base. There is a certain uptake, although that is not to suggest there are not difficulties or that we do not need to examine this to make sure it works effectively.

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