Telecom Éireann has concluded that it will need to invest in the order of £180-£200 million per year over the next five years. This investment is necessary to keep pace with technological advances and provide a wider range of services as well as catering for growth and improved competitiveness.
The telecommunications business is inherently profitable for efficient operators.The company has made clear that it proposes to fund its investment programme without taking additional borrowings on board. This is the way it has managed its finances in the past five years. There will, of course, be a contribution of £27 million over the next five years from the Structural Funds programme.With the exception of limited funding received from European Union programmes, the company has to date funded its own investment programme and that situation will continue. There is, therefore, no question of capital investment funds being provided by me. My flexibility to provide such funds would be severely constrained by our European Union obligations.
I await submission of the next five-year corporate plan by Telecom Éireann and I am not in a position today to give precise indications as to its investment plans over that period. The company has, however, indicated that its investment requirements will be, broadly speaking, in the range suggested by the Deputy and that it intends to fund this investment without recourse to additional borrowing.