Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister is saying. An evaluation is taking place and it is difficult for him to commit on the cost this will entail, in spite of how long it has been going on and the various reports and controversies surrounding the provision of broadband. As he said during the lunchtime news, 27% or 28% of the population, or 500,000 homes, still do not have access. All they want to know is how much this will cost and when they will have it. A sum of €275 million is committed under the NDP. If it costs more, is there provision within the plan for that sum to be increased? I am also conscious that €500 million has been committed by the European Investment Bank, EIB. If this process were to collapse, for example, and it was to be undertaken by a public body, would the €500 million still be available? Is that sum the full extent of the commitment that has been made by the EIB?

To summarise my questions, is €275 million the limit of the commitment in the NDP? If it is to be increased, what provision will be made and from where? Is the €500 million committed by the EIB the entirety of the provision there? In the event of the existing process being amended, will that €500 million remain committed?

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