Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious of time and there are a few issues I want to get in. Terminology is very important. We were very conscious of that when we were debating for a very long period of time, backwards and forwards, the number of houses or premises passed and the number connected, which is very different. The number connected is actually very low in comparison to the numbers passed. We need to stop talking in circles on this kind of thing. We need to have monthly figures to give us clarity on what exactly is being delivered. There is a difference between the two of those. We need constant updates and I do not see why it would not be routinely put on the website so we can see it.

Who signed the contract? Were the Department and the then Minister aware of the method of funding this initiative by the investors? Was the Minister aware it was going to be as convoluted in terms of the means for these expensive loans, for example? I cannot get my head around how anyone would take out a loan for 12.5% when they are looking at Europe-wide interest rates being so low. How would that make a contract like this competitive? It just does not make sense to me. If people are really invested in something, they will invest their money in it, but this does not read like that, given the structure and funding are so convoluted and byzantine. In fact, what it is doing is undermining the limited confidence that was there in the first instance.

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