Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach must answer the questions that are asked. Eir is not the Government and he should stop trying to claim credit for what a commercial operator is doing. Deadlines have been missed repeatedly and the Minister, Deputy Naughten, has refused to give a date for when the procurement process will be complete and the contract awarded. The Government's commitment in the programme for Government has gone by the wayside. That programme states: "Following the completion of the tender process and the awarding of the contract, targeted for June 2017, the new Government will work with the winners to accelerate the roll out of the infrastructure next year". We are nowhere near that, and there is no transparency around it. Cliff Taylor put it very well in a recent article when he wrote: "At this stage even the National Children's Hospital will be operational before the broadband plan is complete." The degree to which the needs of rural households and businesses are being denied and dismissed is scandalous, given the shambolic approach to delivering on a national plan that was published as far back as 2012. We now face the prospect of it being potentially 2019 or 2020 before we see the commencement of this plan, if at all. We do not know whether the companies that bid for the original process are now redoing their sums as a result of the Government's decision with regard to Eir.

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