Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. One does not have to be from Roscommon, the west or some very isolated rural part of Ireland to be in need of the national broadband plan to deliver. I am acutely aware of that from my constituents in Kildare South, whether one is young or old, running a small business or have the ability to work from home a few days a week instead of clogging up the M7 and the M50, with the corresponding improvement to quality of life.

I want to recognise the role that the national broadband plan has played to date. While 19% of premises in south Kildare require State intervention, the €2.75 billion private investment in the last five years has provided momentum for this plan. If the consortium is successful in its roll-out, will it start in more than one place? The next row might be where the consortium would start and where it would finish, as there might be years between those points. There is a need for more than one location where this plan will start from. There should be at least three or four locations around the country, so that every county, including Kildare, would all see the national broadband plan being rolled out at very early stage.

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