Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government set out a timetable for the signing of a contract to roll out the national broadband plan in June of last year, but it has not happened. The Government has undertaken a procurement process described by the Minister as unusual in character and which has taken four years to come to a conclusion. During the course of that, all the major infrastructural development companies that had shown an interest and had begun the process have fallen by the wayside. One of the original bidders that remained in the race is no longer in it. In fact, one of the participants in the consortium has changed to the extent that we have a venture capital company left as the bidder.

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