Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State. On a daily basis, the entire process of the national broadband plan is becoming more and more like the national children's hospital debacle

We have claims that this project is different and the costs are not inflated. In my view, these claims do not stand up to scrutiny. Today, we have heard a claim by the Taoiseach, one which we heard previously, that the national broadband plan is not the original broadband plan and is some sort of new more expensive plan. That claim does not stand up. I draw the Minister of State's attention to a statement made by the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Pat Rabbitte, in 2012 that the Government's commitment was to high-speed broadband availability throughout the country during its lifetime. That was the Government of 2012 that lasted until 2016. The crucial point is that he stated there would be a minimum of 30 Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country no matter how rural or how remote. That lends a lie or mistruth to the Taoiseach's assertion in the Dáil today that what was envisaged back then is different from what is envisaged now. He needs to come to the House and correct the record. Back then, the expectation was that the State would invest approximately €500 million. The plan has not changed.

We also now have new revelations about the potential cost of the broadband plan. Today, the Taoiseach announced to the House that rather than the original estimate of €500 million, it is now expected to cost taxpayers €3 billion. When the plan began the objective was clear. There was an expectation the Government would spend in the region of €500 million to subsidise the creation of a fibre broadband network, which industry sources had estimated at the time would cost approximately €1.5 billion to build. We are dealing with an overspend greater than that of the national children's hospital.

The two major industry players, SIRO and Eir, pulled out before ever submitting a tender, believing the Government was not prepared to commit the necessary funds to deliver the rural broadband plan. In the Dáil today, the Taoiseach confirmed the remaining bidder, a private investment firm based in Boston with limited experience in the Irish market, expects €3 billion of taxpayers' money to build a project that everybody else estimated would cost €1.5 billion.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Today, the Taoiseach stated he did not know how much the biggest infrastructural project to be undertaken in the State in a very long time, which the Government committed to deliver, will cost. It is €3 billion and rising but he is not actually sure how much it will cost. We do not know when the plan will be decided, how it will be delivered or by whom it will be delivered. It is an absolute mess. I wonder whether lessons are being learned by the Government in all of this when we take into account the children's hospital fiasco. The lesson that needs to be learned is this. Once upon a time in this State if we needed public transport - trains and buses to go to every single part of the country - we had a State company to deliver it. If we needed telecommunications, we had a State company that delivered telecommunications. If we needed electrification throughout the country, we had a State company that delivered electrification. If we needed a postal service to get post to every village, town and house, we had a State company to deliver it. What we have done is dismantle those State companies bit by bit and allowed vultures, domestic and international, to asset strip those companies to the point that we cannot deliver anything. We are then dependent on vultures coming in, putting us over a barrel and dictating to us how much it will cost. They do not want to do it. They drop out if they cannot make a profit so we are left with one bidder and then that one bidder, a US investment fund, has us over a barrel. We have to go to dinner with them to see what we can possibly negotiate to deliver a plan that is of critical State importance. It is pathetic. Could we get the ESB to do it, please?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. As a rural Deputy, I have a serious interest in the issue. I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton. He could not be here due to an overrun in his time.

It is the Government’s commitment to ensure that every home, school and business in Ireland, regardless of how remote or rural, has access to high speed broadband. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment and State intervention in areas where commercial operators are unlikely to invest. Many of these areas are in more remote and difficult to access areas. This is a complex and challenging problem to solve given Ireland’s dispersed rural population and density of road networks.

In 2012, fewer than 700,000 or 30% of all premises had access to high speed broadband. When the Government came into office, this figure had risen to 52%. Today, more than 1.75 million, or 74%, of all premises can access high speed broadband services. Over the past five years, the telecommunications industry has invested more than €2.75 billion in upgrading telecoms networks and services. I welcome recent announcements signalling that the industry is set to continue to build on that investment, mostly in cities, towns and villages, in the coming years. However, commercial operators will only invest so far. There are approximately half a million homes, schools, businesses and farms that are unlikely to receive access to high speed broadband from the private sector in the near future. The State must step in to bridge this gap.

The national broadband plan entails not only the initial deployment of a predominantly fibre solution across 100,000 km of road network and 96% of the land mass of Ireland but also a 25-year commitment to operate and upgrade the service for the 1.1 million people in the intervention area. This is a key investment in Ireland's future and one which will impact on public spending for a number of years.

The national broadband plan is managed in the Department by an experienced team, including national and international experts. Work is ongoing to ensure the appropriate due diligence is undertaken on this key project before any decision is made or money spent. The cost of the national broadband plan has always fallen to be determined through the procurement process and, in the event that a subsidy is awarded, it will be subject to a cap to mitigate risks of overruns. It will be a costly project and the appropriate governance and contractual safeguards must be in place to protect public investment.

There is no intention to drag out this process. There is a determination to reach a decision in a timely manner but it is an important decision and one we are determined to get right. I am aware that the Government’s ambition to deliver high speed broadband is shared throughout the House. The solution must be one that serves everyone and leaves no one behind. The Minister intends to make information available following any decision for a detailed and informed debate on this important project. He expects to bring a recommendation to the Government on the national broadband plan shortly.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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There might be no intention to drag it out but the Government has certainly achieved a monumental dragging out of a process that started back in 2012. The key fundamentals have changed in the intervening period of course. Earlier, the Taoiseach incorrectly told the Dáil there were three bidders for the national broadband plan and, as such, that gave confidence to the Government with regard to the pricing. The reality is there was only ever one bid placed. Other potential bidders had taken part in a dialogue but only one company ever sent in a formal bid. The Minister of State might confirm this is the case and, perhaps, the Taoiseach will correct the record on it also tomorrow. Granahan McCourt, the one remaining bidder, wants €3 billion of taxpayers' money for a €1.5 billion network, as estimated by most other companies. The company will ultimately own the infrastructure and any profits generated from the network will effectively also be retained by Granahan McCourt. It wants the taxpayer to pony up €3 billion to build a network that has been estimated to cost €1.5 billion. It wants to own it forever and a day and it wants all the profits that go with it. In anyone's mind, this is a fiasco and mess that has left us at this point, where the Government's back is to the wall. There are 542,000 premises and homes dotted throughout Ireland crying out for broadband and the Government has managed to put the taxpayer into this precarious position. It will need much debate and careful explaining by the Government to get out of this one.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is unacceptable that a US investment fund should have the State over a barrel because of the fiasco of the process. We should draw a line under it, learn the lessons and start talking to the ESB or renationalise what is left of Eircom.

The idea that a US investment fund would charge €3 billion and then own the network is just beyond appalling. This is an absolutely predictable market failure on a massive level.

I agree, and we have said much the same as Fianna Fáil, about the need to use our semi-State bodies. I hope that Fianna Fáil will be humble enough to say that it made a mistake when it privatised Eircom. Let us admit that it was a mistake and recognise that "commercial operators will only invest so far", to quote the Minister of State. That is the key to understanding this fiasco. Unless we learn this lesson, we are doomed to repeat it over and over again. Let us get the State and its agencies and companies to deliver this essential infrastructure for rural Ireland.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett about the privatisation of Eircom. It was a disaster from day one and it probably gave rise to part of the problem we have now. As the Taoiseach stated earlier, this is a huge project on the scale of the rural electrification scheme. It is a key infrastructure project and likely to be one of the biggest investments in Ireland. It is an investment in an ongoing service for this generation for the next 25 years and more.

In the event that the contract is awarded, the costs will be spread over the term of the contract and strict governance of these costs will be managed. Deputies have highlighted to the House the impact of not having broadband and how this has affected their constituents. They have also given examples. We need to ensure that the national broadband plan is delivered in order to enable all people to have access to the equal opportunities that high-speed broadband brings. High-speed broadband is the key to unlocking the potential that advances in digital technology can offer. The Taoiseach also stated that we want to do this right. To do so, the Government needs extra time. There is no intention, however, to draw this out. A decision will be made soon.

A question was asked on whether the ESB could roll out national broadband. The European Commission and the Attorney General have made it clear that it would not be possible to provide a subsidy to a commercial semi-State body such as the ESB to roll out the national broadband plan without a new public procurement process. We are where we are. The Attorney General has advised that there are significant legal risks around procurement law and state-aid law if the State was to mandate a fund directly outside a procurement process and economic undertaking, including a commercial semi-State owned entity such as the ESB, to carry out the national broadband plan.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I do not accept that.