Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. It is shared. It is essentially a shared network.

There is no comparison between this project and the national children's hospital. One might believe the project is expensive but we made no commitment before we knew the absolute capped cost. The complaint about the national children's hospital was that commitments were made to go ahead with the project and, those commitments having been made, the costs rose. One might not like the cost of implementing the broadband plan but we are making no commitments until we decide on the preferred bidder. It will not be finalised until we sign the contract. This is not like the national children's hospital but one might not like the cost.

I had to smile at Senator Craughwell's slightly nuanced version of what the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform brings to the party at times.