Fast broadband, quick bucks and another PR bellyflop

The controversy surrounding the huge cost of the National Broadband Plan is growing nearly as quickly as the list of zeros at the end of bill. Our main story today discloses the final cost of the project may be up to €5 billion, which suggests a €2 billion investment by the consortium led by US businessman David McCourt.

The Government yesterday released a tranche of documents relating to the awarding of the contract. The most interesting was a letter from Robert Watt, the secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure, raising serious concerns about the project and strenuously objecting to it.

We had the unusual scenario of a Minister (Paschal Donohoe) rejecting the advice from a senior civil servant. That has been criticised on the basis that the Minister Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform should follow the advice. But part of being a Minister is not following advice because there are other considerations in terms of the public good that might not be taken into account by a department. In this case, it was the need to get broadband to all of rural Ireland despite the grimace-inducing costs.

The net result has been another PR bellyflop for the Government, which has been making a habit of cock-ups lately.

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Miriam Lord: Who dares question the rural broadband plan?

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So where did it go wrong?

The massive costs and the extended timeframe, plus the fact that the competition for the contract was reduced to a single bidder, have all conspired to make it a hard sell.

Like most political projects, the estimated budget and time projections were hopelessly optimistic. There was an added difficulty with this one in that the Government decided to allow Eir remove 300,000 households from the plan, so that it could provide broadband to them on a commercial basis. I spoke to two former ministers for communications yesterday - Alex White and Eamon Ryan - and they both identified this decision as the factor which killed the contest, and left a single bidder.

As we report today, the State will not own the network at the end of the process, which is highly unusual.

There might have been a time when the Government went back to the drawing board on this. But it left it too late. As it is, it will be the middle of the next decade before it is complete. If they had to re-tender, it could have been another 10 years.

There are some pluses. There has been a lot of talk about 5G and other technologies but they are not fully proven and 5G would require hundreds of masts scattered around the countryside. Fibre optic is very expensive but it is the fastest with a sustainable future of at least 20 to 25 years.

Interestingly, a report by the EU Court of Auditors last autumn estimated it would cost €250 billion to bring it to each EU country. Getting fast broadband to rural areas is a problem across Europe, not just in Ireland. In fact, we are not "laggards", to use the Taoiseach's favourite term. In France, there have been moves to limit the use of fibre optics because of cost and to use wireless solutions instead.

Even here, the last few per cent of homes will be reached by wireless because of the high costs of providing fibre.

Was there deliberate timing? In other words, was the plan published just ahead of the elections to win a rural vote? I don't really buy that. But if it was, it has recoiled furiously. It's not going to win Fine Gael or the Independent Alliance any extra votes.

Best Reads

Miriam Lord on the bunch of one-man-broadbands who made a cacophony of unintelligible noise in the Dáil yesterday.

Marie O'Halloran gives a flavour of the heated exchanges in this report from the Dáil.

Here's The Irish Times view on the broadband fiasco.

Denis Staunton reports on a deal that gives British and Irish citizens reciprocal rights of free movement after Brexit.

This piece is worth a mention again even though it was published last month. Sorcha Pollak wrote about the (then) 29 candidates that come from a migrant background and were not born in Ireland and accompanied it with a great video, where the Fianna Fáil candidate in the Longford councils, Uruemu Adejinmi, gives a star turn.

Playbook

Election news

Fianna Fáíl publishes its local election manifesto in Dublin at 11am in Dublin.

The Green Party launches its European manifesto at 11.30am in Temple Bar.

Fine Gael's two European candidates, Frances Fitzgerald and Mark Durkan, will join Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Minister for Communications Richard Bruton to discuss Brexit. It's on at 10am in the Fine Gael media centre on James' Street East, Dublin 2.

Workers’ Party European candidate, Eilis Ryan, will launch its waste management policy on Moore Street at 11.30am.

Political parties affiliated to the Raise the Roof protest later this month will hold a press event on Dáil plinth tomorrow 11.30am. This will include Sinn Féin and People Before Profit.

Dáil

9.30am: Statements on CervicalCheck with Minister for Health Simon Harris defending the Government's handling of this ongoing controversy. The recent High Court award of €2.2 million to a terminally ill woman, Ruth Morrissey, was a reminder that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar could not live up to his promise to reach agreement in every case through mediation and arbitration. There is also the issue of when the tribunal will begin and how the backlog in tests is being dealt with.

10.30am: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed is fielding questions. There are lots of concerns about CAP negotiations, the future of Irish fishing post-Brexit, and difficulties in the dairy and beef sectors.

12.00pm: Leaders' Questions expected to be taken by Tánaiste Simon Coveney today.

12.32pm: Weekly divisions: This week's votes. As it is a short week it may be a little faster than usual.

2.25pm: Government Legislation: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 Report and Final Stages sponsored by Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

3pm: Statements on the National Broadband Plan. That will provide two hours or more of very heated debate over its high costs and long timeframe.

6.03pm: Another fascinating debate, this time on the all-party Committee Report on Climate Change. This report is one of the most significant documents to come before the Dáil in this term.

9.03pm: Dáil adjourns.

Seanad

A much shorter day for the gentle denizens of the Upper House.

10am: Special meeting of Joint Committees for Engagement on Challenges for the European Union on the occasion of Europe Day. About 10 committees are in, with contributions expected from about 30 academics on subjects as diverse as agriculture, trade, the North, the Border and constitutional matters.

1.30pm: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017 - Committee Stage (resumed). Ad infinitum. Over 90 hours now and counting. Filibuster. Dambuster. Stoprighttherebuster.

3.30pm: Seanad adjourns.

Committees

9.30am: Committee of Public Accounts is looking at the issue of Garda overtime.

9.30am: The Joint Committee on Housing is examining the performance of local authorities today.

10am: The Committee on Finance continues its examination of the banking sector with representatives of Ulster Bank Ireland DAC and its chief executive Jane Howard.

10.30am: Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection is scrutinising the Pension Amendment (No 2) Bill with representatives of IBEC and The Pensions Council

2.15pm: Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement has a discussion on the Centre for Cross Borders Studies Project and the "Towards a New Common Chapter" idea.