Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister was here seven weeks ago and stated that ensuring the procurement was brought to a conclusion in a fair and transparent manner was a priority for him and that he proposed to revert to Government with a recommendation. I merely wish to ask the Minister to indicate, in definitive terms, the timeline for the roll-out of the national broadband plan. Perhaps I should have inquired first as to whether it is the intention of the Government to roll out such a plan. The Minister stated that his Department is kicking the tyres on this. I imagine, therefore, that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is poring over every dot, line and comma in respect of the cost exposure relating to the national broadband plan. I also imagine that there are probably serious questions to be asked about the potential cost. I say all that on the basis that we are still in the dark about the final cost of the roll-out of the national broadband plan so there. Many questions remain. I had hoped that the Minister might be a bit more forthcoming. I recognise that there might be constraints on what he can say but, given that there is only one bidder left standing, I thought the Minister might have been a bit more forthcoming regarding information flows to the House because no more than his own office, all our offices here are inundated with testimonials from people who have a significant expectation regarding the provision of the national broadband plan and await an announcement from Government. Based on the Minister's intervention on 4 December 2018, I was given to understand that we would be near enough to an announcement, particularly at this time and allowing for some slippage over Christmas, but that has not happened. Perhaps the Minister could give us some firmer timeline as to what the Government's intentions are in that respect.

We all have testimonials from constituents. I fear for the people who will not be covered by the national broadband plan and who are not covered among the 300,000 but who are deemed to have coverage as matters stand. On 4 December 2018, the Minister indicated that 674 national schools in the State intervention would be covered by the national broadband plan. However, I have examples of situations in places such as Cobh. I will use the example of Cobh as an articulation of other towns in my constituency. When people in Rushbrook approached Eir for coverage for the school, they were informed that it could not be provided even though Eir is stating that it is providing coverage in the area. When one individual approached Open Eir on foot of advice from ComReg, the company stated that the person was not a wholesale customer and, therefore, it could not provide the person with high-speed fibre even though such fibre is being provided in the area. I fear for those people, clubs and schools that will not covered by the national broadband plan and that are deemed to be serviced currently but that are told by a provider when they approach it that it cannot provide them with the fibre they seek. What will become of them when the national broadband plan is announced? There is clear evidence in places such as Cobh on Great Island where Eir and other companies are providing but are not providing at an expectation that is commensurate with the times in which we live in view of the capacity that exists to provide X number of gigabits for an average household. What will happen to those people who, it could argued, are being discriminated against because of that active market failure? I received an email from an individual who informed me that when they asked Eir, their current broadband supplier, about fibre broadband, they were told to talk to Open Eir, which will not talk to individuals because they are not wholesale customers. The person in question stated that they had been previously been with Sky and Three but that these companies are dependent on Open Eir putting down the fibre broadband and do not appear able or willing to advance the project. There are still major gaps in the market. I am not sure what role ComReg is playing in addressing the market failure that exists throughout the country regarding those areas that will not be covered by the national broadband plan.

I will wrap up my contribution this evening by asking the Minister if it is still the case that we might not have a national broadband plan on the basis of figures that may or may not have been presented to the Minister - assessments of cost that may make it too prohibitive if it runs into billions of euro - and whether that is part of the Minister's assessment that is under way in terms of kicking the tyres on the proposal before us. If a price is agreed, what is to stop Granahan McCourt from coming back and holding us all to ransom, telling us through the tender process that it is not able to roll out the plan at the cost it will agree and having us over a barrel for an additional payment? This has already happened in this State with countless numbers of projects. As a result, there are still serious questions to be answered. We support the motion.

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