Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I did not say I would make any particular announcement this week. I said we would publish the results of the consultation and the various submissions we received on the website this week. In respect of the map I said it would available shortly. I expect that to be during the month of November.

The state aids aspect could not be new to the Deputy. The state aids rules are well known and have been in place for several years. There are constraints on what any member state can do to intervene in the market because these services are largely provided by the private sector. Where the private sector says it will not or cannot go because it will not make a profit it is up to the State to intervene. The Deputy is right about that. I appreciate his frustration and that of many around the country at how long these interventions are likely to take but I want to give the House an insight into the sort of work we are doing. The Deputy asked me to take a direct hands-on approach. I give him an absolute assurance that is what I am doing, directly as Minister, leading this process in the Department.

Over the coming months we need to do a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to underpin the funding we need; assess the likely final net cost to the State; assess how the funding is to be secured, whether off-balance sheet and how the funding model might impact on the Exchequer balance sheet; assess whether infrastructure financed through State funds should be owned by the State or a commercial company; decide whether we go with a winner-takes-all approach such as one contractor, or divide the competition into lots; decide the likely contract duration for the future; assess how service quality is to be measured; decide the governance arrangements for the contract given the long-term nature of the intervention we intend to make; assess the impact of the intervention on the telecommunications market in Ireland, for example the impact on the universal service provision for voice telephony; prepare a database of assets or State agencies whose assets are available for use by telecommunications operators; finalise of the intervention map; and formalise the EU state aid provisions. There is a myriad of activities required.

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