Has the plug been pulled on National Broadband Plan?
FRESH doubts have been cast on the future of the National Broadband Plan – with Communications Minister Richard Bruton warning yesterday that the Government must decide if it’s ‘an investment we are willing to make’.
Leo Varadkar had previously said a decision on whether to proceed with the plan would be made before Easter – but this will now not happen at today’s Cabinet meeting, the last before the break.
The Taoiseach has conceded that the plan – originally projected to cost €500million – will now cost ‘many multiples’ of that figure, estimated in many quarters to be around €3billion.
Yesterday, Minister Bruton confirmed the final report will not go before Cabinet today, and raised further doubts over its future by questioning if the Government would consider the inflated costs a price worth paying.
‘This will be a State-aided approach. We went through a process of determining what was the most cost-effective way of doing that. We have a final tender. A decision has to be made on that tender,’ he told reporters.
‘It has been acknowledged that this isn’t a cheap investment, and Government have to make a decision whether this is an investment that we are willing to make.
‘It’s not going to Government tomorrow [today] but I can assure you there is no intention to drag out this process. There’s a determination to reach a decision in a timely way. It’s an important decision and it’s one that we’re determined to get right.’
Under the plan, broadband coverage around the country has increased from 30% at its launch in 2012 to around 74% currently.
But the project has been beset by numerous delays, having been originally scheduled for completion in 2015. There remain some 540,000 premises in rural Ireland without high-speed broadband, which the Government has promised to provide for.
The infrastructure project has been beset by controversy, with many bidders, including ESB and Eir, dropping out of the tendering process. Former communications minister Denis Naughten was then forced to resign last year when it emerged he held a series of secret meetings with the last remaining bidder, a consortium led by Granahan McCourt.
Speaking from Cork yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Coveney tried to play down the delay, saying it would be a matter of weeks rather than months.
‘Broadband is not coming before Cabinet tomorrow [today] but it’s not on the long finger,’ he said.
‘There’s not going to be a long delay here but there is some more work to do before Minister Bruton can bring the broadband proposals to Cabinet, but we are not talking about months here, we are talking about weeks.’
But Fianna Fáil communications spokesman Timmy Dooley said the people of rural Ireland have been ‘completely let down by the Government’s failure to get the plan of off the ground’.
‘There have been so many false dawns over the past few years, promise broken after promise broken,’ Mr Dooley said. He added: ‘In November of last year, the Minister for Communications indicated that he would bring a recommendation to Cabinet on the National Broadband Plan within weeks. Fast forward five months and there is still no movement – it is deeply frustrating.’
‘So many false dawns’