Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The beauty of the Minister's position is that he is in government and has responsibilities. He has to decide priorities on behalf of this Dáil because he has the majority to do so. Playing games with me about what I would or would not do is not up for discussion here. I need to know what is available in the public finances to deliver a development plan to which this Dáil has agreed. The Minister is not being straight with people when he does not enlighten them in this regard. I ask him to be conscious of that and of the fact that, as I said, others who are independently appraising the national broadband plan have said his position is not credible. It is worrying that he has not sought to clarify his previous comments on his commitment that no project will be affected. He is now saying projects may be affected but he will not enlighten us as to how they will be affected. He said that projects will be delayed. Some €99 million worth of projects have been delayed because this year's commitments in the national broadband plan have not been acceded to and the costs overrun for the national children's hospital.

The Minister has yet to inform us of another €400 million in addition to the €500 million between now and 2023 that he mentioned in his initial reply. What exactly will be delayed? How long will it be delayed ? Will it be delayed for long enough to cause people to forget about the commitments that were made on road trips last year?

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