The programme for Government promises to provide a broadband service to the people who do not have one. Has the Thatcherite capitalist ideology seeped so far into the bones of Fine Gael that it can never countenance a situation where the State should intervene and provide basic infrastructure? It seems that it cannot think outside the private sector. Civil servants and even dyed-in-the-wool Fine Gael voters I have met on the campaign trail cannot believe that the State would not provide this infrastructure. We now find out that the cost could be the equivalent of 2,000 social houses, 18 primary schools, ten health centres, a whole load of flood relief and vital projects throughout the country.

Along with the national children's hospital, this is an indictment of the so-called fiscal rectitude Fine Gael is supposed to represent. Why did the Taoiseach say it would be "a bit much" to ask the ESB to do this? Why would it be a bit much? How much would that option have cost?

I call the Minister.

The Minister said the Government went through every single option. Ninety percent of the cost of this would be borne by the State. This is not a rural versus urban issue, as some Deputies are trying to suggest in the local election campaign.

Go raibh maith agat.

It is not in the interest of anybody in an urban area that other people do not have broadband. Rural projects will suffer and be wiped out because of this.

The Minister to respond to the question.

The Minister and his colleagues should not start that in the campaign trail. He should answer the question as to why the State cannot do this. The champagne corks are popping in French companies-----

Please, Deputy Coppinger-----

-----and companies all over the world in light of this deal.

I call on the Minister to respond. Others want to respond but in respect of leaders or leaders' representatives, it is not customary.

I will not comment on the decision to sell Telecom Éireann, but when it was sold obviously we were depending on the private sector to deliver. It has been very successful in delivering for 75% of the population. People in urban and suburban areas will get access to fibre broadband.

It is the other 25% we are concerned about.

This would not happen in the areas where the other 23% of the population live.

We set up a procurement model. One of the companies that entered that procurement process was the ESB in partnership with SIRO. For its own reasons, it decided not to proceed with that. We were strongly advised that the best and most cost-effective way to build this network was to build it off the core network that was already there, being able to rent poles and rent ducts, rather than having to build them from scratch. That is the model we proceeded with. If we were to terminate this contract and not proceed with the bidder which is here and start again, in order for the ESB to be considered as eligible to participate we would need to have an entirely new procurement process which could again take two, two and a half or three years to complete. ESB did enter it and for whatever reason it did not proceed.