We are coming up to the fifth anniversary of the announcement by the former Minister Pat Rabbitte on broadband. There have been many commitments made in that regard. There are several commitments given in the programme for Government. People who are not able to access high speed broadband, or broadband in any form, believe the Government has abandoned any realistic attempt to roll out broadband to communities that are demanding it. There have been several debates on the issue recently. Is there any serious commitment by the Government to actually put in place a plan to deliver broadband to the communities that do not currently have it and that are not covered by the commercial or Eir programmes?

I also have a question about the national broadband plan, against which it is fair to say a huge question mark has been put by the Taoiseach and the Minister in recent weeks in responses to questions about the cost which is running to multiples of the original estimated figure. Senior Ministers and the Taoiseach made the point that there was a question mark against the whole project, never mind the questions raised by Members in the House. It is clear that the plan is in trouble. It is also clear that there is concern on the Government benches about the issue. We are very concerned about it. I have been in and out of the Chamber in the past two and half years to raise it, as have other Deputies. Fianna Fáil has recently taken the same position as Sinn Féin on using the ESB to roll out broadband. We are aware that the ESB pulled out once 300,000 homes and businesses were taken by Eir. Is it not time to look at a plan B? There are questions about the cost and the viability of the plan, as well as about the logistics-----

The Deputy's point is clear. Can we get an answer to his question, please?

I ask that the spokespersons for the Opposition parties and the Taoiseach sit down to reach agreement on the issue.

I totally accept that this is a genuine question which arises from a genuine concern on the part of both Deputies. There is an absolute commitment on the part of the Government to deliver broadband to the households and businesses that do not have it. Some 74% of premises in the State now have access to high speed broadband, which represents a dramatic improvement in terms of where we were in recent years, but it is not enough. We cannot have a rural divide in broadband provision, which means investing public money to fix the problem. We are committed to doing so and have been through a long process. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, needs to bring recommendations to the Government on how we can move forward, having fully assessed the issue of value for money and all of the other matters raised by Deputies. I understand he will do so shortly.

That concludes Questions on Promised Legislation. All 21 Deputies were reached.