Results 5,441-5,460 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I am open to that if that is the wish of the Oireachtas. We are subject to freedom of information requests. My officials have handled this in an exemplary way to the highest standards of the public service, of which the Deputy would be proud. I have no problems. They are very open and have conducted their business in a way that is designed to protect the interests of the State.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I will start by putting in context the initial equity investment and the working capital. The reason we are doing this in the first place is that there will be 540,000 premises left without any access to high-speed broadband unless the State intervenes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I am trying to answer the Deputy's question and the context for this is important. If we are to reach those 540,000 homes the State has to provide state aid to deliver 146,000 km of fibre. We evaluated how that could be done at least cost and to best advantage from the taxpayer's and the user's point of view. The evaluation showed very strongly that the best way to do that was not to set...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: If that happens-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: If that happens, the investor-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: If that happens, it is the investor who is on the hook and who has to put additional equity into the company to deal with the fact that it is being competed with by those who are not making-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: We do not pay the compensation. The investor is entirely exposed to the risks, so if a wireless operator delivers the service and encroaches on what the investor hoped to get, it is entirely at that risk. That is when additional equity would have to be put into the company. If the investor cannot deliver the €2.4 billion for which it is responsible, it has to put additional equity in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: On the contingencies, when we have looked at alternatives, in each of those cases we have looked at the critical issues. For example, if one were to say this should be offered to the ESB, the critical issue is whether a contract could be terminated and offered to the ESB or not. The most important issue that needed to be checked at that point was whether that could be done under state aid...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: When only one bidder remained, we recognised that there had to be much more robust due diligence than if there were a number of bidders. We investigated the volume of fibre, the price of fibre, the terrain, the way this would be done, the expected labour cost, the expected material cost, and the pace at which ducts and poles would be made available. All of that was investigated in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: The price of rental is close to €1 billion but that is fully regulated by ComReg and it is done on a cost plus basis. It looks at the costs and is entirely independent in making that decision. It is currently €20 per pole per annum, and €10 per pole per annum if the pole is shared. That is regularly reviewed by ComReg. We did not redo the cost-benefit analysis for each...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I will talk about the model that we use and will then bring in the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, who has chaired the mobile and broadband task force. The model we decided to go for was a competitive tender to seek to achieve universal access and we were open-minded as to what technology would deliver that and how it could best be done. Interestingly, all three tenders proposed a fibre...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I acknowledge that Deputy Bríd Smith recognises this is a really important issue for the future of the country. I have worked in a number of Departments and I have seen how this is transforming, and it will continue to accelerate. It is really important. The difference between now and when rural electrification was considered was that we have at this point privatised, for good or ill....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: We have made studies. In all cases we have looked at international benchmarks to see what stands up to scrutiny. We have done that work. On legal actions and investigations, we are confident that none of them will have an impact on the roll-out of the national broadband plan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: The position is it will be a stand-alone company which will be regulated in great detail. Its primary element will be delivering on the governance commitments we have entered into under the contract. Every member of the board will have an obligation to ensure delivery to the State under the terms of the contract. We have written the contract in great detail to ensure we will have access to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: The contract binds this company in every respect. It has detailed reporting obligations and audit and delivery requirements. The representative on the board will make sure that those important governance commitments, which apply to all board members and the company, are delivered. This person will be at the core from a public interest perspective to ensure that the company honours all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: The contract will be published in full when it is finalised. We have published a full synopsis of the contract, the details of the various items that must be overseen and the audit requirements in respect of when a contingency sum could be called upon. The detail of this contract is immense in terms of the specified obligations of the company. That must be borne in mind. This is not just...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: An existing fibre-to-the-home price is €30 per month. The Deputy is talking about fibre to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: That is different. I will need to confirm whether it is index linked. I presume it is a regulated price and that it will depend on the regulator over time. ComReg does not have a role in the short term, but it will certainly have a role in the longer term because the terms of the contract are such that it is unlikely that at this stage it would see a need for it to step in to regulate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan: Discussion (14 May 2019)

Richard Bruton: I will confirm whether it is index linked.