Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

He will be lucky if he does not lose the third one the way things are going because decisions are not being made in that regard.

To give the Minister an idea of what happened in the past, when we were last in government, which is a while ago now, we provided broadband to 234,000 homes and businesses across the country. We met 100% of the target at that time, and we must remember that technology was different then. We have been consistently appalled by the neglectful stance the Government has taken towards the provision of broadband to rural homes and businesses, which are struggling to survive in an increasingly digital era.

Last week in the Dáil, Fianna Fáil brought forward a motion to remind the Government of the broken commitments to rural Ireland and called for a swift review of the tendering process to date. That motion was passed with cross-party support. It is very important that there be an evaluation of what is going on at present.

The Government's national rural broadband roll-out is a shambles. The tendering process started in 2015 - three years ago - and it has dragged its heels. Two bidders have withdrawn and there is now only one bidder remaining in the process, namely, Enet. Will Enet have access to the Eir network? We do not know what negotiations are taking place. In September 2017, SIRO, a collaboration between ESB and Vodafone, withdrew owing to the lengthy and complicated tendering process, something which should have triggered alarm bells for the Government at the time. In January 2018, Eir, another large and experienced operator, pulled out of the process.

Fianna Fáil supports the roll out to all households and businesses of access to fibre-optic broadband capable of providing up to 1 Gbit per second in download speeds. It is essential infrastructure. Fibre broadband to homes is key to bridging rural Ireland's digital deficit. In some rural areas companies are already deploying fibre-optic cable rather than copper in the final connection between local exchanges and households and businesses.

In light of developments in the future, and the deep concern relating to Brexit, there is nothing more important for rural and urban areas, and industry, than ensuring that we have the most efficient and effective broadband system in the world. I am afraid this Government is incapable of delivering that. It is likely that the general election will be over and gone, when Fianna Fáil will probably play a role in the next Government and we will deliver.