Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

While the Deputy opposite might have me signing contracts left, right and centre, I must be cognisant of the public interest and the taxpayers' interests in how we manage the development of our infrastructure. I believe I was absolutely correct to commission the value for money report examining our overall MANS project, to publish it in the Dáil and to act on the recommendations emerging from it, as well as being involved in the consultation process pertaining to the development of next generation broadband. I believe that rather than rushing in and signing a contract immediately, as the Deputy opposite may advocate, the correct approach was to get it right and to work through a process in the appropriate framework.

I am confident my Department will be able to do so in the first quarter of next year and one should recognise that while the metropolitan area networks constituted a proper investment, they were a long-term investment. While in the long term, investment in fibre will provide a crucial solution, it is not a short-term or immediate measure. As the value for money report indicated, even were one to switch on every MANS nationwide, one would not necessarily get an immediate and instant uptake, particularly in the smaller towns. It is a long-term investment.

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