Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2009
9 Deputy Brian O’Shea asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the outside organisations working on the national broadband scheme; the amount that has been paid out to them since the start of the scheme; the reports and advice they have given; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24081/09]
View answer43 Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of people and the amount of resources that are allocated to working full-time on the national broadband scheme and their duties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24080/09]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 43 together.
My Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the national broadband scheme, NBS, in December 2008. Within my Department, the implementation of the NBS is being overseen at senior management level by full-time civil servants at the grades of assistant secretary and principal officer. Responsibility for day-to-day project management and administration of the NBS rests with a team comprising of an assistant principal officer, a higher executive officer and a clerical officer. Additional specialist technical and legal resources are available to the project from within my Department, when required. The contract places onerous requirements on "3" in respect of programme delivery and compliance with technical and service level requirements. These are important features to ensure best return for the overall Exchequer investment in the scheme of €79.8 million. In these circumstances, it is necessary that the Department should have specialist outside assistance.
Accordingly, Analysys Mason Limited was engaged by my Department in January 2009 for a 28 month period to provide technical, financial and commercial advice, along with support to my officials in relation to project management and monitoring of the rollout and implementation of the NBS. As the network is rolled out and services are delivered in the NBS coverage area, Analysys Mason will assist in validating coverage achieved in individual electoral divisions and in monitoring the performance of the infrastructure, service availability, service delivery and quality, customer experience as well as overall compliance by "3" with contractual obligations.
To date, Analysys Mason Limited has provided ongoing advice in relation to a range of matters, including the establishment of project governance structures and reporting systems to underpin clear and effective monitoring of the roll-out of the NBS and performance delivery by "3". In addition, it has elaborated on processes within the NBS contract to verify broadband coverage and to validate service delivery and quality as well as the achievement of contractual obligations.
My Department also has available an individual resource with relevant ICT expertise who provides day-to-day administrative support in relation to NBS project management and implementation. Since the signature of the NBS contract, an amount of €67,845, excluding VAT, has been paid in respect of the advisory services outlined above.
Was it always envisage that this consultant would be included in the actual management of the scheme? Was this incorporated into it from the very beginning? I am not quibbling, but I wonder whether this was incorporated into the scheme. There is a real danger that if we have to get expertise we have to go outside the Department for various reasons in terms of staff numbers being reduced.
In terms of the management of the contract, was it always the intention to employ outside consultants?
I would have to check the stage at which that was included but I imagine it is because it is fairly standard procedure in some of our other similar projects. For example, the MANS always had a technical advisory component as it was being implemented as well as at the concept stage. On similar projects there is always that technical outside assessment of whether it is being delivered.
What budget is allowed over the 28 months? The Minister has indicated the money that has already been spent on this consultancy but what will the total amount be between now and the final period? When will the broadband scheme be completed?
It is to be rolled out in September 2010.
So it is 28 months to the full completion. Could the Minister give me a figure on how much the consultancy will cost? Has the Minister examined planning applications and permissions to see if there is any danger of delays? I am concerned about the old chestnut of mobile broadband where a rural business comes under this scheme but there are complaints about the efficiency of mobile broadband. What are the Minister's intentions about meeting the needs of the 20,000 households that will still be outside the scheme when it is completed?
The Minister probably saw the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual ranking of e-readiness and I note that Ireland has improved somewhat, essentially because of the recession. However, when one examines the detail of the analysis it appears the Government has held us back in terms of a lack of strategic approach whereas business appears to be more e-ready than we are here.
The 28-month tendered bid was for a total of €399,000 and for the various stages of that right through to the end of the scheme. The Minister asked whether we can be certain there will be no planning delays. One cannot be certain. This is a very complex project which covers the entire country. Masts have to be put up involving very significant, complex backhaul works involving new technology. No doubt there will be difficulties on the route to delivering it but Hutchison 3G is very confident and there are conditions set in the contract that it will meet the targets, the 48% of areas being covered by December this year and full coverage being rolled out at the end of September 2010. Part of the task in my Department and with the consultants we have working is to keep a continuous eye on that and ensure difficulties are overcome and targets are met.
The technology is working in the areas where it has been rolled out, initially tentatively in a small number of areas. In the technical analysis of the speeds in the areas, the contention is that this technology is working. It is leading edge in terms of mobile broadband technology but it is proving to be very robust. Some of the innovations and technologies within it, such as the receiver one would have in one's home to pick up the signal and apply it in the home, are proving very robust. The latest technology is being deployed, it is working and our key attention within the Department and with our consultants is to ensure it is deployed effectively across the country.
We are examining ways we can get to those remaining customers who for a number of different reasons are in areas which do not come under either the national broadband scheme or alternative coverage and how we can plug that gap. I welcome and appreciate Deputy McManus's comments on the improvement in e-readiness around the country. The Deputy is correct that the Government must work further on this. I am very confident that the work being done by CMOD in developing the Government's use of broadband technologies and improving our services will bring us further up the international table.
This is the first time I have heard the Minister concede that a number of people will be outside the national broadband scheme who cannot get broadband connectivity, which intrigues me. Can he tell us how many people, households and small businesses are in that bracket and if there is a concession that this is the case? The figure given to us in committee by the Irish Rural Link——
It got that figure from the Department.
——which it got from the Department was approximately 20,000. Can the Minister give us an idea who those people are and why they are not covered by the national broadband scheme, which was supposed to be an effort at universal coverage across the country?
A couple of years ago in my old house in Ranelagh I could not get broadband because of a paired split on the DSL line. I eventually got it by putting a fixed wire connection to a distant point. There is a range of different reasons. Largely the areas are where electoral districts had the vast majority of homes covered by existing subscribers, and under European competition rules we were precluded from going in. This is an area where one had 5% or 10% of the electoral district, which is the lowest level we can come down to. That was an insufficient number to allow us to go in under competition rules. I am working from memory but I understand the number is in the order of 12,000 homes but I could be wrong. We are examining ways we can plug that last gap.
The Minister should look after Valentia Island.
