Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. A certain contract model was chosen. The model is that the State does not own the asset. The State provides a subsidy and it piggy-backs, to the maximum extent, off the existing network. It seeks to have it integrated into that network to maximise the overall business system that the whole system delivers. It stands on its own two feet, so the State does not get involved.

Other Deputies have said it would have been much better if we had hung on to Telecom Éireann and we would now be building off a State-owned asset. However, that is not where we stand. This was clearly the most advantageous option for the taxpayer and the quickest to deliver.

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