Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The State paid a lot of money a few years ago to put these fibre loops in the ground and then passed over management to connect them to a commercial entity called e-net. E-net's position is that if it can make money out of connecting them, it will do so but if it cannot make money out of connecting them, it will not do so. There is a lot of fibre in the ground that e-net has said it will not connect up because it will not make any money out of it. Two of them are in Wicklow but they are throughout the country. There is a loop in the Kilcoole-Newtownmountkennedy-Greystones area and one in Blessington. Businesses are screaming out for broadband connectivity and fibre connectivity. The State has put public money into putting this fibre outside the premises.

Now, however, a commercial entity is stating it is not making any money out of doing the final bit of the connection. The same case for using State money to put the fibre in the ground applies to connecting the fibre to businesses. There are going to be several places where the national broadband plan will not supersede this. I ask the Minister to go back and take a look at the logic of the State paying money to put fibre in the ground. It is insufficient for the State to take a hands-off approach by saying if e-net can make money out of it, fine; if it cannot make money out of it, that is also fine. That is not fine; therefore, I ask the Minister to work with his Department in looking at this issue on a case by case basis and, in particular, at the two cases in the area I represent. What is the commercial gap? In Blessington, for example, it may €10,000, in which case it should be provided immediately.

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