Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. Unfortunately, a detailed cost-benefit analysis was not done on the alternatives. It is clear that the Government does not have a plan B, despite what has unfolded in recent weeks. The Minister is responsible for the national broadband plan which is a disaster for the Irish taxpayer. It is based on a failed tendering process, a flawed cost-benefit analysis, as pointed out by his own Department, and it does not represent value for money. What is even worse is that the taxpayer will not own one metre of cable when the 25 years are up. Everything stays with the private company which will be bankrolled by the Irish taxpayer. The failure to conduct a proper cost-benefit analysis of the alternatives is reckless, both from the point of view of providing broadband and from a financial perspective.

We know from the documents released last week that there have been two contingency reports, one carried out in 2018 and one in 2019. They told of two viable options. To quote directly from the 2019 report, officials in the Minister's Department reported that alternative options "have not undergone a project appraisal or any CBA analysis". Will the Minister tell the taxpayer why he chooses not to carry out a cost-benefit analysis on viable State-led alternative options?

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