Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I sought this debate on Monday morning and it is a very different debate now, as others have said, from the one I anticipated. Nobody from the Opposition sought the resignation of the Minister, Deputy Naughten. Like others, I came here with a list of questions, and they will remain irrespective of who is the Minister. The process is central to what we are trying to unpick. We must be certain there is a process that we can stand over in the roll-out of national broadband. We have been here before and the problem is that questions get asked after an event. Up to now we have spent more than €500 million on tribunals and inquiries. People ask why this keeps happening and it is because we do not ask the questions in advance. We must interrogate the process properly. The process is laid out by the Department and it is not a general procedure; it is designed around the national broadband plan and how it is supposed to be managed. Did it deviate from the plan? Yes, and it did so substantially. How do we know that? The Minister has told us.

The Taoiseach had a meeting with the former Minister, Deputy Naughten, in September. He needs to come here and tell us about the briefing. Deputy Naughten has said the Taoiseach asked him to reflect on his position, and he said it was clear from this that the Taoiseach did not have confidence in him. We need to hear from the Taoiseach about the roll-out of broadband and what will happen now. We need to have answers to the questions that we are legitimately entitled to ask. We need to know whether he agrees with us about the questions that are out there.

I do not have personal animosity towards the former Minister, Deputy Naughten, but this is the second time there has been an issue. The issue earlier this year related to Independent News & Media. We must have confidence that when rules exist, we will abide by them. That is how to build confidence in a process. It is essential that the Business Committee meets today or else that the Taoiseach would come here before the close of business to take questions on the matter. We need to set out now a process to address the pertinent questions, including why we lost two bidders from the process, leaving just one, and why the competitive tension one might expect did not exist. There is also the question of how the consortium has changed since July, and we need to hear from the Taoiseach about what will happen from now on with this very large and vital infrastructure project. We must have some clarity on it as quickly as possible.

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