James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the terms and conditions of the broadband tender reflect growing international concerns on the surveillance and espionage potential of such equipment with particular reference to recent decisions in the United States of America, New Zealand and Australia to forbid certain providers access to certain telecoms infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52783/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention network is now at the final stage, with my Department concluding its assessment of the final tender submission received from the bidder on 18 September 2018.

While details of the final tender submission are confidential to the procurement process, I understand from public statements by the bidder that Nokia has been nominated as a key technology partner. Should a contract be awarded, I further understand there will be strict governance and monitoring procedures to ensure best international practice is followed in respect of all elements of the network and it’s day to day operation, including best practice in respect of ensuring the services delivered are highly reliable and resilient. The contract sets out clear performance targets which must be met in this regard. These will be reported and measured on a monthly and quarterly basis throughout the 25 years of the contract to ensure compliance.

I would also note that operators are obliged to take measures to manage risks to the security of their networks and services and ComReg has a role in ensuring compliance in this regard.