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

In terms of investment in infrastructure, we should bear the following in mind: in the past 20 years in Ireland, we have invested €40 billion in our roads connecting our cities by motorways, bypasses, local, regional and national roads all over the country; in the past 20 years in Ireland, we have invested €10 billion in our sewerage and water network - perhaps we should have done more; and in the past 20 years, Government has invested very little in our communications infrastructure. That has all been done by the private sector. We need to see this kind of investment in that context.

This is not a small project. This is a huge project serving more than 500,000 homes, farms and businesses all over the country. Over 1 million people will potentially benefit - people who will be able to access education, healthcare and public services online and do the kind of things into the future that everyone should be able to do.

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