Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Delivery of rural broadband will be one of the major failures of the Government. The overspend could be as high as €3 billion, and what the State will own at the end is extremely questionable. This will match the huge overrun on the national children's hospital and it will cause many capital projects around the country to be delayed, with some ultimately abandoned. My own constituents in Tipperary are concerned that the project at St. Patrick's Hospital, Cashel will be seriously delayed because of these overruns. It must be asked if the delay in providing acute mental health beds in Tipperary, which were promised by the Minister on numerous occasions, was caused by the massive project overspend I have outlined.

Last month the Taoiseach announced yet another delay to the broadband plan as it emerged that commercial operators rolling out products in the intervention area had queried the State subsidising a competitor. Even if the contract is signed by Christmas, not a single metre of fibre will be rolled out in 2019. This stands in stark contrast to the Government's previous commitment that 85% of premises would be covered by 2018.

Our position on the roll-out of broadband is clear and simple. High-speed broadband should be provided to the intervention area as quickly as possible, to the same standard as is commercially available in other parts of the country, at the same cost to consumers as elsewhere and at best value to the taxpayer. The Government cannot deny that rural Ireland is not benefiting from any perceived growth in the economy. On the contrary, this Government has introduced policies that have actively damaged economic growth in rural communities. That is why access to broadband in rural areas will determine if the trend of rural stagnation overseen by this Government can at last be reversed. The provision of high-speed broadband in rural communities is no longer a luxury. It is necessary for the survival of rural Ireland.

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