Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a commitment on broadband on page 46 of the programme for Government. The process is in disarray currently. Of the three bidders, ESB-Vodafone and Eir have pulled out. There is only one bidder left and that consortium is basically in pieces because Enet, John Laing and SSE have pulled out of it in recent weeks. There is now only one investor left in it.

Was the Cabinet aware that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment was meeting that one investor in New York recently at a private dinner hosted by the investor? What was the purpose and outcome of that meeting? It seems the Government is squeezed between two venture capitalists, the French investor that owns Eir and this investor from the United States. Will the Tánaiste forward the minutes of that meeting to me? When will the 542,000 homes and businesses in rural Ireland have the broadband that was promised to them by 2020?

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