Results 2,001-2,020 of 11,015 for speaker:Timmy Dooley

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: I might contribute again at the end of the meeting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: The voters will appreciate it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: I have a few.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: I will try to keep it to questions. This assertion has been made that the State's liability is capped at up to €3 billion and Granahan McCourt is taking on an uncapped liability. What instrument is used to guarantee that position?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: What instrument is used to give effect to the future protection of the State, since in the event of any failure or evaporation of one of the owners the State is the guarantor? What connection goes back to the shareholder? Is there a shareholder guarantee? Do the shareholders in the new company guarantee the contract? Is there any recourse between the NBP company, the holding company and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: Perhaps I am putting this incorrectly so we will take it carefully. We have the ultimate company that will do the work, then there is this holding company and then there are the shareholders. In the event that the broadband company does not perform and, as a result, develops a significant liability or requirement for investment, what guarantee does the State have that the shareholder will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: Neither am I.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: For sure and that is where my concern is regarding the ownership. It all speaks to the ownership model associated with gap funding versus the concession model because when myriad companies are involved, obligations denigrate somewhat over time, and they certainly denigrate as one goes from one holding company to the next. I would like to see that direct link back to the people who have the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: -----and whether they are required to remain committed because they have been in and out like "Lanigan's Ball" for a while. Whoever is the final money entity needs to be connected. Will the Department commit to providing us with whatever documentation it can to demonstrate the linkage between all these companies, which shows who owns what, the shareholdings and what instrument is used to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: That is great. The cost and value for money are important and we have to address those but rapid deployment of high-speed broadband is the major issue because that speaks to the policy behind all of this and seven years is not rapid deployment. I want to try to understand the contingency plan that the Department looked at in 2019, in particular, when it stated the following: "The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: Yes. The Department states, "The subsidy estimates presented in this paper, as well as the costings, revenue projections, timelines and other supporting assumptions have been extrapolated from information provided by the bidder...". Is that Granahan McCourt?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: The Department is taking their numbers and using them to extrapolate how alternatives might be costed. The Department is relying on their information.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: Did the Department do a full cost model on the alternatives?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: I accept that, but the Department will recognise the difficulty we have. As politicians, we are charged by the Taoiseach to consider alternatives, examine what the Department is doing and not rule out the plan the Department has in place, but without information it is difficult to make a value judgment. I am not calling into question Mr. Ó hÓbáin's judgment if we are all in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (22 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: That is a given. I am wondering what analysis was done or what information the Department could provide on that optimum model somewhere between 20% and 25% wireless.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Administration (21 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: 56. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the cost-benefit analyses conducted by his Department or on behalf of his Department with regard to each alternative option considered for the national broadband plan; the cost of each of the options considered; the state aid considerations and the meetings and-or communications with the Department of Public...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Administration (21 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: The question concerns the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment's consideration of alternatives to the national broadband plan in 2018 and earlier this year. Costings were made but this information was not released. Will the Minister outline the indicative cost of each of the options considered by the Department?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Administration (21 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: I find that hard to understand. Earlier I heard the Taoiseach respond to a question about the ultimate value of the contract. There has been an effort by the Minister and the Taoiseach to suggest that after 25 years the only value that will accrue for this massive State investment will be the value of the fibre optic cable. That fails to recognise the tremendous amount of money that will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Administration (21 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: The Minister knows full well what will happen if the take-up does not meet this company's projections. The company will walk away. The Minister has already provided for that. He has indicated that the State will step in and take the stranded asset. It will then be left with the burden of completing it to protect the investment and the customers to whom the Government has already rolled...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan Implementation (21 May 2019)

Timmy Dooley: My impatience was not with the Minister's appropriate due diligence in regard to the signing of the contract. It was the fact that he rushed to the pulpit at the first possible opportunity, right in the throes of an election, to announce that he had conferred preferred bidder status on the only bidder that has been in existence for 15 months and so it would not be lost on the general public...