Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that anyone disputes that broadband is essential to all parts of the country. My own area is very good in parts and terrible in others. I live in an area that is very good, and we are lucky, but I have spoken to people who have considered moving house because their service is so bad. Working at home or running a business is impossible for people in that case. In a digital age, broadband is not a luxury but a basic necessity. That is particularly true for those running businesses, but whatever the use, whether it is for children using it for homework or older people using Skype to stay in contact with people who have left the country, it is required across all society.

This process concerns me a great deal. Something about it feels very wrong. The very fact that it is afait accompliwith one bidder means it is not a competitive tendering process.

It does not have the kind of competitive tension that one would expect to see in a process that is properly run. If we do not stop and have some consideration at this point, and have some answers as to why this is happening, down the road we are likely to have some sort of inquiry as to what happened exactly. Why can we not hear it now in real time rather than in five years' time, having awarded a tender where there is not really a tender process, discovering there is a problem with it and then having an inquiry as to why it did not work as was intended?

The Minister can come out all guns blazing - I was watching him. He gave us every class of expert as the reason we should just go with our betters and know what our betters are telling us. I have got to say we are here to interrogate matters. We are here to ensure that the process works as it should.

I have an uneasy feeling about this process and the adequacy of it and I do not want to delay for one minute. The Minister talked about not wanting to delay and being anxious to get on with this process, as people outside are. None of us wants to delay this process but neither do we want a process that will cause us a significant problem. For example, is it not a valid question to ask why the bidders are pulling out of this process? Is it because they feel they cannot make money on it? Do they feel they will not make money on it because people will not be able to afford to connect to it? If they cannot afford to connect to it, is there the spread of broadband that the Government is seeking to roll out? The Minister, instead of coming in here and talking out loud, and all guns blazing and telling us about all the expertise, should answer some of the questions about why this process has failed to live up to what one would expect for such a big project. It is a one-horse race and it is inadequate from that point of view.

We regularly see what happens when responsibility for vital public services is outsourced to the private sector. This is a vital public service. I have no problem with the market or the private sector where appropriate but this is a fairly basic necessary service. Essentially, if it is only judged on a profit motive, we have a difficulty in that there is a public service without considering public access to it. That is a really serious problem.

The Minister needs to come in here and answer the questions rather than lecture us.

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