Results 14,621-14,640 of 32,569 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The key level of risk here is not the desire on the part of anyone to earn a profit; it is the fact that we are talking about expanding an expensive asset to 1.1 million people who do not currently have access to it and to whom the private sector is unlikely to supply it. The fundamental factor in all this is whether we want to move away from 100% coverage. This has a very big effect on how...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The contract will not be signed until the Department is fully satisfied again, at that point, that the consortium has the operational and financial capability to implement this contract. That is the safeguard, at that point, as to how this can be dealt with. On my point that the risk for us is capped, the reason I stand by that assertion is that all of the different issues that have been...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: All economic and financial risks will be assessed again by the Department before the contract is signed.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I envisage a fibre optic cable going to the majority of households, but in the contract there is provision for other forms of technology being used to complete the final distance to a small number of homes. My understanding is that fibre optic cable will be required to enable that final piece of technology to a small minority of homes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Minister, Deputy Bruton, is probably better informed to answer that question than I am. Fibre optic cable technology has been used by Eir to expand its coverage and it is used in many other countries to improve coverage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: For the majority of homes covered by this contract, there will be fibre optic cable direct to the premises.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not believe that would be the case. I believe that fibre optic cable technology is a form that is likely to be used more and more for the delivery of services.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Bruton, knows exactly what he is doing. I am in front of the committee answering those questions for which I have responsibility.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a pretty clear idea of my responsibilities. While I have been answering the Deputy's questions, I have received some material on his question about fibre optic technologies and it backs up the point I made a moment ago. SIRO is a venture involving ESB and Vodafone and it uses fibre optic technology to expand and upgrade its existing rural network, which will reach 300,000 premises....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Fibre optic technology is also being rolled out in many other European states.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I reiterate what I said a moment ago. Fibre optic is the technology choice being used to upgrade our existing broadband network. The Deputy opened his contribution by saying that he was a committed believer in universal public services and 100% coverage. Plan Z did not deliver 100% coverage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It did not deliver it. I have no doubt that if I was before the committee advocating plan Z, the Deputy Broughan would castigate me for not delivering universal coverage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Given that the contract will not have been signed-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will give my view on it but the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, is best placed to definitively answer that. I imagine that although the consortium is the preferred bidder, we do not have any significant commitments to the consortium until the contract is signed. The Minister, Deputy Bruton,-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is an ongoing procurement process. I do not believe we would have any significant commitment to the bidder until the procurement process has concluded.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I think I am answering the question with the best knowledge that is available to me.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will have to come back to the Chairman with that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, it was on work done by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment as well as my Department.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I guess the key part is the insights used in the entire procurement process informed the options that were put to me. Anyway, I know from the fact that my Department was involved in this that we formed independent views regarding the pros and cons of the different options.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, that is not correct. What happened is that the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and then my Department were involved in this at three different points. We looked at the policy options available that were different from the course of action we were on.