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

I will answer if the Deputy will let me. The point was made regarding barring companies from tendering for such things as shoddy building in the past or failing to pay subcontractors. It is under examination but I understand that under EU public procurement directives, the bar for excluding somebody from tendering is actually very high and requires a burden of proof rather than a degree of suspicion. That is the law as it stands under an EU public procurement directive but perhaps it needs to be changed.

Another thing we should bear in mind is the issue of rapid build. I often hear people call for rapid build housing and I certainly do not rule it out as part of the solution but Ardgillan was a rapid build school. It was built in 24 or 25 weeks. We need to bear that in mind. Things that are done quickly are not always done well.

I am not sure how many meetings I have had with regard to broadband. I have had a couple anyway but I do not think crusades require many meetings. I am not sure the crusaders spent much time around the conference table. Peter Smith, who is the independent procurement and process adviser, is doing his work. The terms of reference were agreed by Government last week and published. We will anticipate that he will have completed that part of his work in three weeks. Deputy Haughey is right to point out that because of the nature of what he is doing, it can be done quite quickly. Deputy Bruton is the new Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I have asked him to take a few weeks to examine the national broadband plan and see how we can bring it to fruition. We commit to bringing it to fruition and extending high-speed broadband to the 540,000 premises in Ireland that will not get it by commercial means.

I am pleased that Dún Laoghaire Harbour has at long last been transferred to the local authority

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