Vol. 895 No. 3
72. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if this Government is committed to providing fibre broadband to every household in County Donegal; if not, the reason why; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38991/15]
I would like to ask the Minister for an update on progress in the delivery of high-speed fibre-optic broadband to homes across Donegal and other parts of the country. What timelines are in place for the delivery of high-speed broadband under the Government's proposed national broadband scheme?
When will it start and when will it be completed, something that is important for premises that are waiting anxiously on it?
The Government’s national broadband plan aims to ensure every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high-quality, high-speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and State-led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. In July of this year, I published a detailed draft intervention strategy for public consultation. That strategy proposes that the State-funded network must be capable of delivering high-quality, high-speed broadband with a minimum download speed of at least 30 Mbps and a minimum upload speed of at least 6 Mbps. It must be capable of catering for higher performance in the future to keep pace with consumer demand. This will be a specific requirement of the tender. It will be a matter for bidders to select the technology they consider will best deliver the service.
As I have repeatedly said, we must observe a strict policy of technology neutrality in any procurement process. Therefore, I am not in a position to promise connectivity through any particular technology platform. As I have said, we will set out a detailed service specification, including a requirement to scale up services over the lifetime of the contract. We will allow bidders to show how they propose to meet these contractual requirements. Given the quality of the services we wish to see delivered and based on the current absence of significant fibre networks in many parts of Ireland, it is likely that fibre will play a major role in any proposed solution. However, the technology platforms that provide the final connectivity to premises will be matters for commercial operators to decide on. The Government is determined to ensure the network is built as quickly as possible. Engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated that this could be achieved within three to five years of the award of the contract. In this context, the national broadband plan proposes that through a combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high-speed services by 2018 with all addresses passed by 2020.
I thank the Minister for his response. The speed and urgency with which the Government has addressed the broadband issue and the need to ensure all parts of the country receive fibre broadband has been lamentably slow. It is unacceptable that many parts of the country are waiting for the State-assisted scheme on which they will depend to achieve fibre broadband. The Minister indicated in his response that the tender he is planning to bring to procurement will specify "a minimum download speed of at least 30 Mbps". Will he comment on the future-proofing of such a level of speed? It is simply not good enough. We should be seeking to ensure the State scheme provides a fibre broadband service to every household in the country. This is what was done when electricity and telephone services were rolled out many years ago. We should be taking the same approach to broadband services. The Minister has indicated the Department must be technology neutral with regard to the technological platforms proposed by the various companies that tender for the delivery of broadband. If he were to indicate that the technology used should be fibre broadband, he would have much more control. It would be more expensive, but the Minister would be ensuring not only that every household gets high-speed fibre broadband once and for all but also that the service is future-proofed. Will the Minister comment on the suitability of that in the context of the minimum speeds he is proposing?
Under state aid and other EU rules, I am not in a position to specify a required technology but I am in a position to specify that the service would have a minimum download speed of 30 Mbps and a minimum upload speed of 6 Mbps. If the Deputy reviews the literature and the experience in other countries and the technologies that are available elsewhere, he might come to the conclusion that it is likely that fibre will feature in the deployment of such a service here. When we specify that minimum requirement, it is likely that fibre will feature prominently in it. I had to remind the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Moynihan, a few minutes ago that when this Government came into office in 2011, some 300,000 addresses throughout this country had access to high-speed broadband. That figure is now 1.3 million and it will be 1.6 million by the end of 2016. By 2018, 85% of the country will have been covered.
The Minister promised it would be 90%.
Full coverage will be attained by 2020.
The Minister has outlined how much broadband has improved in the last few years but all of that has been no thanks to himself, although he is not slow to stand up here today and try to give the impression that the improvement is the product of this particular Government. The Minister might consider the fact that in County Donegal, following on from the broadband mapping exercise conducted by his Department, 52% of all premises in that county, both private and residential, are awaiting a Government scheme before they will get high-speed broadband. The private sector has indicated that it will not provide services to those areas. The people are waiting on the Minister to deliver broadband but unfortunately all we have had over the last five years is the current and previous Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, making grand announcements about how they are going to deliver broadband to the public. As of now, this Government has not spent one euro in delivering broadband services to Donegal. Indeed, by the time it leaves office, this Government will not have delivered broadband services to any premises in Donegal. It is somewhere into the future, at best three to five years way, despite the fact that the current Government has been in power for five years. Donegal and other parts of the country which require State assistance to get broadband are falling behind. It is a critical item of infrastructure and businesses and everyday life fall behind and areas become more peripheral without it.
Thank you, Deputy. We are way over time on this.
The record has been poor. I ask the Minister to indicate when we can expect this to proceed because there are many areas still waiting for it.
I call on the Minister to reply and conclude.
In the first instance, the delivery of such an important piece of infrastructure, as the Deputy must know, is a major undertaking by the State. It is a major intervention by the State and is not a matter of, as the old joke went about one of Deputy McConalogue's party colleagues, arriving in a constituency with telephones in the boot of one's car. It is not like that. The facility has actually to be built. We must have State aid approval, make sure the financing is in place and make sure that all of the requirements are met.
We have no state aid approval.
The Government has had five years.
The private sector-----
Five years.
There is no state aid approval yet.
We know that there is an election coming.
The Minister knows there is an election coming.
We know the Deputy is grandstanding on this issue and waving sheets of paper at me-----
It was the Government that spoke about 90% five years ago.
The Deputy must understand, and he should take some time off from the grandstanding to look at the issue, that we absolutely intend to deliver.
If the Deputy looks at the lamentable performance of the last Government with regard to broadband he will see that we have worked very closely with the private sector. I am not claiming to have personally affixed fibre or any other technology to any individual home in the country or that I have lugged the equipment around myself.
That is certainly not the case.
I did not make any claims like that. What I said was that this Government is working assiduously and in a very committed manner to deliver this. The Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, and myself have worked very hard, not just to ensure that it happens in Donegal but that it happens right across the country. Less grandstanding, shouting and roaring in here and more hard work is what this Government does.
Nothing has been delivered.
We do not even have the approval yet.
The next question is from Deputy Broughan.
73. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will report to Dáil Éireann on his response to ongoing public concern regarding the escalating costs and the tendering process for Eircode; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38989/15]
Last July the Minister launched the Eircode identification system at a cost, it was said, of €27 million. We have since found out from the report to the Committee of Public Accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General that the cost now stands at approximately €38 million. It is generally agreed that the system will cost at least €50 million but the real question is whether it is a good system. Is the Minister potentially leaving a complete white elephant behind him in the Department, a system that will be unusable? It seems that our emergency services, An Post, commercial suppliers and many others are still using traditional addresses. How many people are using the Eircode system now?
The cost of the contract with Capita, which was awarded a ten year licence to develop and maintain the post code system, is €27 million excluding VAT or €33.2 million including VAT. This position has not changed since I last reported on the cost of the contract and covers the design of the Eircode, encoding public sector databases, accessing the GeoDirectory database, the launch and implementation of Eircodes and the ongoing management of the system for the licence period.
The total spend to date on the post codes project amounts to €19.5 million, including VAT. Of this, Capita has been paid €17.5 million on foot of delivery of agreed milestones. The bulk of this figure, €11.5 million, was spent on encoding public sector bodies' databases. Apart from payments to Capita, €2 million has been spent on specialist costs arising in the period from 2009 to date.
My Department commenced the procurement process for the national postcode system in 2011. An open and competitive procurement process was conducted in accordance with Department of Finance and European Union procurement frameworks. My Department received correspondence from the European Commission in 2012 regarding certain aspects of the procurement process. In 2013, the Commission informed the Department that the matter had been closed on the basis that it could not establish any breach of EU procurement law that would justify the opening of an infringement procedure.
Subsequently, the Commission requested that certain measures be adopted by Ireland regarding the clarity of language to be used in future procurements. My Department responded to this request after consulting the Office of Government Procurement. In recent correspondence, the Commission confirmed that there are no grounds for reopening an investigation into this matter, which it now regards as closed.
Is it the case that the EU procurement unit found the tendering process for at least three major contracts to be highly irregular and faulty? It is highly unusual for the Comptroller and Auditor General to criticise a public sector contract as severely as he did in the case of the postcode contract. I was astonished to read an article in the Sunday Independent recently by the distinguished journalist Eoghan Harris in which he described what appears to be a very poor tendering process for the postcode contract. He refers, for example, to Mr. Gary Delaney, who developed the Loc8 code, a satellite-navigation-based postcode system that he was prepared to give to the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive free of charge. In Mr. Delaney's view, smaller companies were grossly discriminated against in the tendering process. For example, bidding companies were required to have an annual turnover of €40 million. I am aware of similar requirements in other areas of Government procurement. Why was Mr. Delaney's innovative and free postcode system not considered? Why did we end up with such an expense? As I stated, the tendering process for the postcode system has been severely criticised. I note also that the Department awarded at least two consultancy contracts without any tendering process.
It was reported recently that 87% of people know their Eircodes. Does the Minister know his Eircode?
We are over time. I must call the Minister.
My Eircode is D13 TX82. However, I do not use it, and I am not aware of many people who use their Eircodes.
To return the favour to Deputy Broughan, my Eircode is D6W WN99.
On the procurement issue, Deputies will understand that I was not the Minister during the procurement process. I am perfectly happy to report to the House on precisely what occurred, however. I outlined the position regarding the complaint submitted to the European Commission, which it subsequently investigated. On foot of the complaint, the Commission contacted the Department on certain aspects of the procurement process and the issues were addressed in correspondence with the Commission. The complaint was not upheld and the Commission has confirmed that the file on the complaint was closed in 2014.
It is important to stress that this was a pilot complaint and not a formal infringement under the EU treaties. The Commission did not give any indication that the tendering process was invalid. The European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services advised in 2014 that the Commission department "could not establish any violation of EU public procurement law that would justify the opening of an infringement procedure."
Use of the Eircode has been optional since it came into operation in July. Is the Minister concerned that only a small number of bodies, including commercial entities, are utilising the postcode system? Is the reason for the low take-up the random nature of the system selected? The Minister and I both referred to our Eircodes. It is striking that the numbering system in housing estates and townlands in rural areas is random. This seems to be one of the reasons that emergency bodies, for example, do not use Eircodes. Is it a case that we should not have done this at all, that given we are in the e-mail era we should have waited a little longer and utilised GPS, sat. nav., Google Maps and so on, which would have been much simpler and which would have saved the country €50 million?
The National Ambulance Service is already constructing a new computer-aided dispatch system to use Eircodes and it will be deployed in its new state-of-the-art national call centre. The licensing terms are being finalised between GeoDirectory and the service, which will facilitate the inclusion of Eircodes in its database before the end of the year. The service has welcomed the introduction of Eircodes as they will facilitate the speedier deployment of ambulances.
There are now 21 value-added resellers registered with Eircode and they will provide a variety of services including database cleansing, address look-up and geocoding. One can see a full list on the Eircode website. Some residual licensing issues are being finalised between the postcode contractor and GeoDirectory, which will facilitate the inclusion of Eircodes in commercial databases. Similarly, with respect to sat nav and similar technologies, deployment will take place in early course. The licensing arrangements are being finalised and I expect to see that occur in the coming weeks.
We must move on to the next question.
Sorry-----
I am sorry, Deputy, but we are well over time and the Deputy's own question is next.
74. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources for an update on the national broadband plan intervention strategy; and if a decision has been reached as to how it is to be rolled out and funded. [38964/15]
In respect of the last question, the Minister will know that I asked the very questions that have now been posed by the Comptroller and Auditor General. I said I did not get adequate answers to them. If the Minister and the Department had listened to the concerns I expressed, we would not now have the adverse report.
Please introduce Question No. 74.
I commend Deputy Broughan on his raising of the matter. Can we focus in my question on the ownership of the infrastructure after the roll-out of broadband? Unlike those in Fianna Fáil beside me, I may be politically naive.
I do not think so.
I doubt that.
However, I trust that the Government will do what it says on the tin. Ireland badly needs the broadband roll-out. If it does not happen, the Government will know all about it at the next election.
I would not dream of accusing the Deputy of naivety. The Deputy has been a supporter and has understood realistically what such a huge State investment entails. I thank him for that.
The Government's national broadband plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high-quality, high-speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investment and State-led intervention in areas in which commercial services are not provided. On 29 September 2015, the Government approved an allocation of €275 million for the NBP, which will provide the initial stimulus required to deliver the Government's intervention. Combined with commercial investment, this will ensure that 85% of Ireland's premises have high-speed broadband by 2018, with 100% coverage being achieved by 2020. Last November I published a national high-speed coverage map for 2016, which is available at our website, www.broadband.gov.ie. The map is based on the most up-to-date information available at the time of publication. I encourage consumers to consult the websites of the various commercial operators to ascertain the details of current and future deployment plans.
Following the publication of the NBP's proposed intervention strategy in July last, 38 responses were received. Non-confidential versions of these submissions have been published since last week, and these can be accessed at www.broadband.gov.ie. Meanwhile, my Department continues to review the technical and financial detail relating to potential new commercial investment proposals with a view to updating the intervention area map. I expect to publish an updated version of the map, finalise the strategy and move to the formal procurement phase before the end of the year. The Government is determined to ensure that the network is built out as quickly as possible. Engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated that this could be achieved within three to five years of the contract award.
While I thank the Minister for the reply, I am still unclear as to the Government's strategy on the ownership of the infrastructure. Is it the Government's intention that most of the infrastructure - the spine of the system - will be in public ownership? Is it the Government's intention that the spine and the connections to the more rural areas will be in public ownership? Alternatively, is it the Government's intention to hand ownership of the infrastructure over to private industry? I ask the question because this will be a most valuable piece of infrastructure and it will be possible to make money from it.
I would prefer to see the Irish people, and not private investors, making that money through public ownership. If this is in private hands, we will be at the mercy of private companies, whose motivation naturally will be profit, and the Government will have no influence over what they charge or how they improve connectivity and the infrastructure.
The Deputy is right, in that the issue of ultimate ownership is one of those that requires to be determined. This relates to many of the other questions that have required to be addressed in recent months during the time when the Deputies opposite seem to believe that nothing was happening. There are issues of ownership of the network, the financing structure for the public investment, the legal framework, state aid implications in the EU context, etc. We are engaging in an analysis. The issue that the Deputy raises is a live one. We require further analysis before the Government is in a position to reach a determination on what is the most appropriate ownership model for the network at the end of the period. This is an important issue and I want all of its various aspects to be evaluated and considered before a final decision is made.
I understand the answer.
75. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress his Department has made in the development of solar energy; the projected target for solar energy as a percentage of our energy needs by 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39028/15]
The overarching objective of the Government's energy policy is to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. The 2009 EU renewable energy directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. In order to do that, Ireland is committed to meeting 40% of electricity demand from renewables, 12% renewables in the heating sector and 10% in transport. While we have made good progress with regard to renewable energy deployment, significant challenges remain, particularly in the heat and transport sectors. Provisional figures provided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, for 2014 show that 8.6% of Ireland's overall energy requirement was met by renewable energy. In addition, the SEAI has calculated that, in 2014, some 22.7% of electricity, 6.6% of heat and 5.2% of transport were met from renewable sources. Less than 0.1% of electricity is generated from solar photovoltaic, PV, installations.
In setting an overall target for electricity from renewable sources, the Government has not set specific targets for given renewable technologies. To date, wind energy, as the most cost-effective technology available to Ireland, has been the largest driver of growth in renewable electricity generation. The Government recognises, however, that wind must be complemented by other policies to meet our renewable energy ambitions. In addition to our onshore wind resource, bioenergy, solar and other technologies may play a critical role in diversifying our renewable generation portfolio over the period to 2030.
To support the use of renewable electricity and heat further, my Department launched two consultations on 31 July on proposed support schemes, one for renewable electricity and one for a renewable heat incentive. While the initial phase of both consultations closed on 18 September, there will be two further opportunities to contribute at key stages in the design of any new scheme. Subject to Government approval and state aid clearance from the European Commission, the new schemes will be available in 2016.
In the context of the forthcoming energy White Paper, my Department is considering the optimal fuel mix, including the role of renewable energy, for Ireland.
We are falling far behind, given what is happening in the development of solar energy globally. In the US, for instance, the cost of providing solar energy has reduced by more than 60% since 2011.
The technology has improved enormously and manufacturing costs have tumbled in the meantime. In Texas, the price of electricity has reduced dramatically since the rolling out of solar energy technology across the United States. There is a lesson to be learned here because of our high dependency on the importation of expensive oil, for instance. Electricity and gas suppliers in this country have been ripping off customers, as the Minister is well aware. I acknowledge he intervened earlier this year. In a little over three years, electricity prices have increased by 22% and standard gas prices have increased by 36%. The result of this is an increase of up to €500 in the yearly running costs of a domestic dwelling.
Undoubtedly, there is potential in solar technology. On a number of occasions, I discussed these issues with energy Ministers in Europe. In more than one country in Europe, a regime of subsidies was put in place for solar energy that is now regretted. It is not that the regimes are regretted because of the authorities not believing solar technology is good but because it now turns out it was not necessary to subsidise it at the level at which it was subsidised. I have praised previous Governments for recognising the importance and cost-effectiveness of onshore wind energy. It is a question of not getting in too early and not waiting too long. Our success in regard to onshore wind energy is clear. We just have to be careful. Solar energy is certainly becoming much cheaper. The Deputy is absolutely correct that prices are tumbling all over the world, with China leading the fray in regard to the manufacturing of solar technology. The questions to be asked are whether we should intervene with a subsidy and how best we can protect the consumer. Obviously, we do not want to hold back too long because the technology can get ahead of us. However, we also do not want to be getting in too early, as other countries did by putting in place subsidy regimes that were not necessary because investors would have invested in any case.
Germany is one of the largest solar energy producers in the world. Our climatic conditions are very similar to those in Germany. The same goes for Britain, for instance. It produces approximately 5,000 MW of solar energy. Our potential solar yields are not different from those in our neighbouring country. Unfortunately, solar energy is one of the lesser used renewables. This is to be regretted. It is very unfortunate that we have not grasped it yet and taken off in this regard. I raised this with the Minister at a meeting of the energy committee and he was very positive about solar energy. Really, we are sitting on this and lagging far behind.
There is an opportunity in rural areas for farmers to invest in solar energy to supplement what are, in many cases, very low farm incomes. We should take cognisance of this. We should redouble our efforts and give all those interested in promoting solar energy in this country all the backup possible.
We all agree that there is a need for renewable energy. However, we must question the cost to rural Ireland. For a number of years, there has been an ongoing threat of industrial wind turbines being erected throughout rural areas. Will the Minister not agree that there should be a moratorium to ensure no industrial wind farms can be given planning permission until he and his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, bring forward robust legislation to deal with the erection of wind turbines?
That is a slightly different question.
It is absolutely unbelievable and despicable that, over 12 months since thousands of people made submissions as part of the information process concerning new wind energy guidelines, we have yet to see where the Government stands on this issue. What consultation has the Minister had with his counterpart, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, on the new wind energy guidelines? When can we expect to see them published? Does the Minister agree there should be moratorium in place until such time as the wind energy guidelines are published and put on a statutory basis?
Does the Minister not believe we have some form of flawed policy when we have turbines that generate electricity on only three out of every ten days? On solar energy, does the Minister not believe the tariffs we have in place discourage people from getting involved in the solar energy sector? There are no planning guidelines at all for solar panels around the country. Does the Minister believe we should have such guidelines?
I have no responsibility in determining where any particular structures are located. I, and ultimately the Government, have responsibility for the energy policy of the country. It is my job to ensure we press on to achieve our renewable energy targets and climate change targets generally by 2020 in so far as they affect energy.
With regard to solar power, I have already made the point that I envisage a role for it. Since Deputy Tom Fleming and I last spoke about this, we have moved on it. There is a consultation process ongoing in respect of the kinds of refits or subsidies that would be appropriate for solar. I made the point to the Deputy that other countries regret becoming involved too early with subsidies that were too extensive. We could have and expand solar energy generation without necessarily affecting the individual consumer and customer of the electricity suppliers. We must have a balanced approach to this.
With regard to the wind energy guidelines, I said earlier when asked that the issue was put to my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, last week during Question Time. He dealt with it then and it is a matter for him but I have had contact with him and my Department has had contact with his Department. We have had good discussions on this.
When will the guidelines be published?
I have raised the issue as to whether there would be a risk of an adverse effect on the renewable energy policy of the country if there were to be a significant change to the setback distances. I make no bones about having done that and about having said to this House that I have done so. We are having good discussions and I hope for a result in early course.
