James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister is a person of integrity and he will get his head down on the matter, but his response is somewhat generic, albeit with some references to Kildare at the end. I do not expect him to know every townland in Kildare but to include places such as Kilcock and Donaghcumper in the provision for east Kildare will be news to anyone in the county, and a bit of a shock. It highlights the issue we face here.

The NBI has tried to engage with the Department and the team. This is not a group of people trying to figure out plan A or B, but a highly competent organised and well-resourced community including many engineers and IT professionals. I have worked with them as a public representative for more than a decade, trying to advance various initiatives and bringing private sector providers, looking to expand the exchanges. They know what they are doing. They wrote to the Department, possibly before the Minister took office, and got no response. They also contacted the utility companies, including Eir, and got no response. That is very disappointing.

I am not looking for preferential treatment or a favour. These people just want an objective analysis of their needs. It alarmed them that when they engaged, worked on the detail and did the due diligence that they are well capable of, they found that the demographics, housing density, area profile and network topography were all out of date. The NBI appears to be making assumptions and roll-out projections based on figures which are outdated and on an old map of the area. That is not good enough. The need is urgent. They cannot wait four years for a roll-out. They need it now. They are working and studying from home now. This must be tackled. I have faith that the Minister will engage on this. I ask that he engage with the residents and instruct his team to do so, most of all, that those figures be re-examined, and that the Minister take on board the residents' submissions regarding the actual composition of their area, rather than the obsolete figures that are currently being used which may lead to further delays which are unacceptable and which cannot be tolerated.

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