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

While it is true that two of those three bidders have since withdrawn, we have three bids and we know what the cost is of the project. All three bids came in at a similar figure. When the Deputy referred to the original cost estimate of €500 million, she neglected to mention that it was for a very different project which was designed to bring fibre to 11,000 towns and villages but not to rural areas. Whenever people speak of the cost being multiples of that original estimate, it is important always to point out that it is a different project. Bringing fibre to the villages of Ireland is not the same as bringing it to 540,000 homes, farms and businesses in rural Ireland. It is quite a different project. Since this Government of Fine Gael and Independents came to office, we have seen a major increase in the number of homes with access to high-speed broadband. It was approximately 50% three years ago but is now over 75%.

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