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

Since the privatisation of Telecom Éireann, we have depended on the private sector to deliver high-speed broadband. This has been fine for 75% of the population but for 1.1 million people the private sector will not deliver. The Department engaged in an evaluation as to what the best way was to ensure we could provide that service. Very clearly, the best approach was for the State to provide 146,000 km of fibre by using the existing network of poles and ducts that are already in private ownership. This was the approach adopted. It was also clear that the best way to ensure that this network would be viable in the long term was to leave it to the private sector not only to design, build and operate but also to operate it in the long term without further recourse to State support. This company, at the end of the 25 years, will be a company with a turnover of €150 million. That is about one tenth of the size of Eir's turnover. It will be a relatively small company operating a network which required state aid to be put in place. We have evaluated the alternatives, every one of which is more expensive, riskier or does not deliver. Clearly, one cannot rewrite the competition rules. We have had a competition, we defined certain terms of that competition from the outset and we conducted the system on that basis. There are therefore fundamental constraints as to what alternatives one can look at-----

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