Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Once approved, it will be one of the biggest investments in rural Ireland that has ever taken place, providing high-speed broadband to over 500,000 homes, farms and businesses across rural Ireland This huge investment in rural Ireland will allow people to access more services online. It will also allow business in rural areas to flourish and to embrace the online and digital economy. Since this Government came to office, the percentage of premises with access to high-speed broadband has increased to over 75%. It was only 52% when we took office, is at 75% now and may reach 80% in the new year. We plan to move on to the NBP after that. This is all part of our vision of investing in rural Ireland and connecting it to modern public services and the modern economy.

In terms of the role of the Minister in the context of the NBP and the procurement process, the Department is responsible for the governance and evaluation of the tender and the Minister has no role in this. The Minister's overall responsibility is to ensure the Government's objectives under the NBP on State-led intervention are met. He is also responsible for timelines associated with the Government's rolling out of high-speed broadband to non-commercial areas as soon as possible and to meet targets set out under Europe's digital agenda. The Department is also required to keep the Minister and Government informed of the progress, timelines and likely cost of the State intervention. The Minister is briefed by departmental officials on progress and any key developments the Department believes may impact on timelines or the cost to the State of the intervention planned.

The lead equity bidder in this consortium is a Granahan McCourt entity and the Department has advised in statements to the media that this has been the case since the procurement process commenced in December 2015.

Regarding the dinner to which Deputy Martin refers, while visiting New York in mid-July to speak at the UN on Ireland's progress towards achieving the UN sustainable development goals, the Irish delegation, including the Minister, Deputy Naughten and his officials, were invited to attend a dinner hosted by the McCourt family. It is worth nothing that Mr. McCourt has been a significant investor in this country for many years, employing hundreds of people. The exchange was of a ten-minute duration, as the minutes show and the Minister did not enter into any detailed discussions on matters with Mr. McCourt. Mr. McCourt has also publicly confirmed this fact-----

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