Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The regular update from the Minister to this House relates to where we are at in the procurement process of the national broadband plan. He will be well aware that the programme for Government, to which he is a signatory, and of which he is a significant beneficiary as a Minister, sets out a commitment to have an agreement in place to sign off with a contractor for the project in June 2017. We are now approaching Christmas. The Taoiseach told us in the House last week that from his point of view, the national broadband plan has seen significant and unacceptable delays and it will be some time next year before the project is signed off. Can the Minister set out a timetable as to when he hopes to appoint a contractor, when the work will begin, and when he thinks the last tranche of houses in the State ultimately will get high-speed broadband?

See this speech in context