Results 6,541-6,560 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I will not say that it will be done before Christmas, which is almost upon us. However, it is very advanced. Of course, one can get access to an official. If one schedules a meeting, one will be able to find an official to attend it, depending on convenience and the ability of the appropriate person to attend. I will not offer an opinion on meetings of which I know nothing apart from what...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that I have been in here dozens of times speaking about schools where there were ongoing tenders and no Deputy ever asked me the cost of a school and the stage of discussions in terms of reaching a cost that would be fair to both the taxpayer and the provider.

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: We have never sought that information here. I can assure the Deputy that since the final tender was submitted in September the State has been seeking to protect the taxpayer. Every element of this is being gone through with a fine tooth comb to ensure that to the best of our ability we can present to Government a robust test to protect the taxpayer. That still may not meet the criterion....

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I will not speculate about the final cost. This is a negotiation which has to be done in a way where we protect to the best of our ability the taxpayers' interest. That is what is being done. That is not served by speculating about final costs. This will be done in the way it is always done in tender processes. It will be done behind closed doors in an attempt to protect the taxpayer to...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Under the competitive dialogue process, a State company entered the process. The ESB was involved in a tender at the early stage. However, the company did not go to the final tender stage. At a certain point, in September 2017, the company dropped out. It was open to anyone. Incidentally, they all proposed the same technology, in other words, fibre to the home. There was an opportunity....

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The auditor, who has been working on this process from the start, who has had access to all of the papers, documentation and meetings, concluded that he is satisfied that neither the former Minister nor McCourt had the opportunity to influence the conduct of the tender process in favour of Granahan McCourt or otherwise. He concluded that the process is robust and that the decision of the...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: To go back to Deputy Bríd Smith's question, the make-up of the group and any evolution of the make-up of the group has always gone to a pre-qualification test and the procedure provided for any change in the make-up of the group to be retested against the pre-qualification criteria. In respect of any changes, they were satisfied that the process, which was independent from the Minister,...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Finally, I acknowledge that tweets were sent which were attributed to the director of the programme. This should not have happened and will not happen in the future. All engagement with the media will be managed through the press office. The individual concerned has been very passionate and energetic in developing the project. That is fair.

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The process chosen was a competitive dialogue and three parties entered the race. In the course of developing the process two dropped out. The tender was developed, with a lot of interaction between the team acting on behalf of the State and the bidder. There is very deep knowledge of the exact cost of the different elements.

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: In any tender process the State will eventually pick just one provider. There will be a process wherein different tenders will be evaluated. That is always the case. In the area of telecoms it is not exceptional to end up with just one tender. It has happened in other areas. The State has taken huge precautions to evaluate and match stride for stride the costs and all of the different...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The cost will have to be decided at the end of the process. An evaluation of the cost is ongoing and until it is completed, I will not have a final figure. That is the truth. The work which is ongoing will influence the final cost.

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: At this stage, the Government has not made a decision on the proposal. When the evaluation is completed, it will decide whether it will be included in spending proposals in future years. As this has not yet been decided, there is no figure for the final cost, nor has there been a decision by the Government to back any particular proposal.

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Of course, that is a possibility. The process has been a competitive dialogue which three parties entered. They developed a high spec proposal to deliver broadband to homes. They will use all existing infrastructure to minimise the added cost, but nonetheless delivering broadband with a speed higher than 100 Mbps to every single house in the country will be an expensive process. The...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: The auditor was not able to conclude that no discussions took place. He concluded that this was one of the areas that he could not confirm because he only had access to the statements of those involved. However, he indicated that such meetings that were not minuted or where there was not a witness gave cause for concern, but that when he considered them against the four tests he was...

Report on Procurement Process Audit of National Broadband Plan: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is an honour to speak to the House as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I look forward to working with colleagues, who I know have put considerable work into this area. I want to talk about the background to the Smyth report. The report was before Government recently and has been published. The background, as Deputies are aware, is that the national...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I understand the Deputy's concern at the rumours that have been circulating, particularly in Cork. This was the subject of a Topical Issue matter last week. As the Deputy is aware, An Post has gone through a very difficult period and had to restructure its business substantially and increase the price of stamps. As part of the restructuring, one of the mail centres will be closed. That...

Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: Five minutes is a short time and, therefore, I will try to be concise. I attended the UN climate conference in Poland yesterday and the message was stark for anyone who was not already aware. It was made clear that the window for the world to respond to the massive challenge we face is closing fast, and that the consequences of failing to respond are truly catastrophic, not only in the...

Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: I will outline the six headings under which I hope to develop a whole-of-government policy working with my Government colleagues in all Departments as this cannot be confined to a single Department. One is the regulatory framework. The second is how we spur the adoption of known technologies throughout the community. The third is how we address market failure. As many Senators will know...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan Administration (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: In light of the technical and once off nature of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led intervention, my Department appointed a specialist international advisory team including external financial advisors (KPMG and PwC) to assist with the development and procurement of the NBP State led intervention. The National Development Finance Agency’s role as financial adviser to my...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Funding (4 Dec 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has not awarded any funding or grant aid to the association in question.