Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I had the opportunity yesterday evening to outline my deep concerns on the state of the roll-out of broadband. There is nothing between the Minister and me in policy terms; the issue is around the methodology. The Minister is right to say he has provided a considerable amount of information on broadband but, sadly, we have not had broadband itself. I have raised very real concerns with the Minister privately and in the House on an ongoing basis. I have sought from the Minister a timeline in answer to three simple questions: when he expects the contract to be signed; when he expects work to begin; and when he expects that work to be completed. To date, I have received no clarity around that.

Each time I have raised the issue, the Minister asked me not to go there because it would delay the process. I do not know how the Minister expects me to accept that if he does not at least give me access to, or visibility of, the timelines he is talking about. When I proposed in 2016 that the State should take this contract into State ownership to be fully in charge and in control of its roll-out, the Minister said "Do not do that". I pulled back at the time because the Minister indicated that it would delay the process by six months. There has been a 19-month delay since 2016 against a timeline the Minister did not know the detail of or was unable to publish.

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