Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One gets the sense the Taoiseach is managing this from a public opinion perspective and from a political perspective.

By the way, two of the original bidders did not actually bid in the end; they gave outline indication. It was asserted all along it would be €500 million. Industry sources are saying the cost to build out the network is approximately €1.5 billion. The Government is proposing that the consortium concerned will get €3 billion of taxpayers' money to build and to manage, and to own the entire network at the very end, making profits along the way. I have no difficulty with people making profits, but for the taxpayer to spend €3 billion and not own, or having any prospect of owning at the end, is something that needs to be fully explained. I find it difficult to comprehend.

The drip-feeding of information around this is not satisfactory. Given that the Taoiseach has now announced the crucial element of this which is the pricing, he has an obligation to place the full proposition in the public domain.

I got the sense, because of the PwC report on the children's hospital, that there may have been an attempt to create distance between that last week and the announcement on broadband. I do not know why all of the secrecy is still there. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Climate Action, Deputy Bruton, stated he could not comment last week on this when parliamentary questions were tabled, yet the Taoiseach had no difficulty in announcing the price of €3 billion yesterday.

There is an onus and an obligation on the Taoiseach to give the full cost. What is the overall cost of the project estimated to be? The subvention from the State will be €3 billion. Are there any additional costs, over and above that, to the bidder?

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