Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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43. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the fact there is only one supplier left in the tender process for the national broadband plan; his further views on whether it is competitive for the State; and the capability of the company to fulfil the project in a realistic timeframe. [37869/18]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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My question relates to the national broadband plan. When will the Minister announce the tender for it and when will that process be complete? Only one supplier is left in the tender process. I relayed to the Minister in the past the perils of that happening and I do so again today regarding the competitiveness of the process, the question marks over it and a realistic timeframe for its delivery. This is very important for rural Ireland.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. The national broadband plan, NBP, is ambitious, with the objective of ensuring that access to a high speed broadband service is available to every premises in Ireland. Realising this objective will significantly enhance Ireland’s standing as a leading EU digital economy.

Bidders wishing to participate in the ongoing NBP procurement process had to pre-qualify in order to participate in that process. Only those bidders that could demonstrate they had the necessary economic and financial standing, together with the required technical and professional capability, were allowed to participate in the procurement. A single bidder scenario does not change this and the remaining bidding consortium has had to meet the relevant thresholds set out for the procurement process.

Up until the point where the procurement was about to enter its finals stages, there was a competitive process. Through the engagement with multiple bidders the NBP procurement team has had clear sight of the likely costs and revenues associated with delivering the high-speed broadband network in the intervention area. The NBP contract includes comprehensive governance provisions to ensure tight management of the build and operating costs.

The procurement process is now in its final stages and the bidder’s submission of a final tender will include its proposed technical solution and deployment plan.

I am pleased to inform the Dáil and, more importantly, the 540,000 families and businesses across rural Ireland who are awaiting high-speed broadband that today marks an historic milestone in the Government's national procurement of the broadband plan. Earlier today, the remaining bidder in the national broadband plan procurement process submitted its final tender to my Department. Over the coming weeks the Department's procurement team will evaluate that submission that was received earlier today. I look forward to receiving the output from that particular evaluation.

The NBP procurement process is unique in terms of its level of ambition and vision. Its focus is to ensure a future-proofed, technical solution that will allow this generation and future generations to participate fully in digital society. Due to the significance and scale of the project to deliver high-speed broadband to every single premises in Ireland regardless of location, the procurement process has been, by necessity, complex and thorough. As the evaluation process is now under way, I cannot comment further. Suffice it to say, that today is a landmark date.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I listened very carefully to every word the Minister said. He said the final tender has been submitted and will be considered in the days, weeks and months ahead by his Department. He told me almost a year ago that it was in the final stages but he and I knew at that stage that it was not in the final stages, that nobody had sight of anything and that it was lost in a legal, financial and logistical mire. That is the truth of it. I ask the Minister to tell me the number of people who have been working on the tendering process and the length of time that has been going on.

The Minister has only one bidder left in the process. He has no plan B. It is either Enet or he calls a halt to the process. It is not just Sinn Féin saying that. Earlier this year, Professor John FitzGerald, speaking in respect of State contracts, stated: "If there is no queue of suppliers there will be no savings for the State." I told the Minister a year ago that if one was going to the market to sell a calf, a bullock or anything else, if there was only one buyer, one would be better off turning around and bringing the bullock back home. The Minister knows that is the case, as someone who is living in a rural area.

The Minister has chosen the privatisation and Enet model, Enet being the only company that can do that. He has not been able to tell us the size of the blank cheque this will cost taxpayers. We want to see this plan rolled out. We believe this process has been like a slow bicycle race.

The programme for Government sates: "We will...provide additional exchequer capital, if needed, to deliver on our commitment to bring next generation broadband to every house and business in the country by 2020." It also states: "Once the contract is awarded the rollout phase will begin immediately". We are now 15 months from 2020. The taxpayer will now subsidise the company that now has control of the network - Eir - to hang cables on poles erected by the taxpayers and by public funds from this State.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The tender was submitted earlier today. That will be gone through by a team comprising approximately 80 people who have been involved in this procurement process, which also includes external advice that was available to the Department.

This procurement process has been complex. I accept it is quite technical. It is unique in terms of its level of ambition, vision and challenge. Thirty seven percent of our population live on 96% of the landmass of Ireland. This is unique in European, if not global, terms. Through this procurement process, we have been designing a technical solution that not only meets the needs of today and tomorrow but of the next generation and the one after that. I have given on occasion in this House examples of the previous scheme, the national broadband scheme, and the day it went live it was obsolete. This network will meet the needs of today, tomorrow, next year, the year after that and those of years to come.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister still believe he will be able to run fibre to every home? We know that the 2020 target is unrealistic. As he knows, Enet runs the State's metropolitan area networks, MANs, systems, therefore, the State and Enet have been working together. The MANs contract for Enet was extended out to 2030. It has that contract, which was not subject to tender. The Minister has the power to tender that contract. The MANs were established for social, economic, regional and good reasons and we have no problem with that. What review was made with regard to pricing in the extension of that agreement? Has a report on this been published for and subsequently by the Minister? The pricing of these wholesale systems will affect homes and businesses in towns such as Portlaoise, Tullamore and others where the MANs systems are rolled out. I want the Minister to address that issue because the MANs systems are key to the future of broadband in rural and regional areas, and particularly in the 90 towns that have those systems.

Another issue, on which I have not been able to get an answer from the Minister, is in regard to the cost of this contract. He has quoted commercial sensitivity but it is as if the taxpayers are to keep their eyes shut while all this is happening.

The Minister will have a pen in his hand writing a cheque for this fairly soon and we have no idea what it will cost. This cannot be nailed down and we cannot even get a price range. It is estimated to be nearly €2 billion for the overall contract. How much of that is a State subsidy?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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First, the tender was submitted today. I have not had sight of that tender, and nor should I. Deputy Stanley asked detailed questions about the metropolitan area networks, MANs, across the State. If the Deputy submits a question on that matter, we will provide the detail on it.

On the towns specifically, the Deputy will be aware that the towns serviced by the MANs are now getting high-speed broadband through SIRO, Virgin Media, Eir or some of the other operators. The MANs will be used as a backbone, as part of this procurement process, and provide the backhaul system for delivering high-speed broadband to rural premises across Ireland. The MANs network and the other State infrastructure will form a key element of that.