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

I thank the Deputy. A lot of progress has been made on broadband in the past couple of years. When the Fine Gael and Independent Alliance Government entered office, only half of premises in Ireland had access to high-speed broadband. Today, three quarters of homes, businesses and farms in Ireland have access to high-speed broadband. A huge amount of this has been driven by Government policy and actions. However, it means that one quarter of homes, businesses and farms in Ireland still do not have access to high-speed broadband and approximately 500,000 will need State intervention to give them access. We are determined to get this done. Increasingly, public services are available online and we need people to be able to access them. It is increasingly important when it comes to business that people have access to high-speed broadband. We are determined to make sure every home, business and farm in Ireland has access to high-speed broadband. This is what we are trying to achieve.

The report of the independent auditor was published in the past hour or so. The report from Peter Smyth, the independent auditor, indicates that the process has not been tainted. Now we go on to the next step, which is assessment of the final bid. The final tender was received by the Department on 18 September and it is being evaluated. A decision will be made in the next couple of weeks as to whether we can go forward with it. As I recall, there are two evaluations. An evaluation is being done by one of the big firms. Off the top of my head I think it is KPMG but it may be a different firm.

See this speech in context