National broadband plan ‘could face legal fight’
The Government’s long-delayed national broadband plan could be open to a legal challenge because of SSE’s decision to pull out of the deal.
Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice made the claim after the firm confirmed at the weekend it will no longer form part of the three-pronged Enet consortium set to win the rights to the project.
Speaking as the Irish Rural Link group demanded that the Dáil and Cabinet be recalled to attend an emergency meeting on the broadband controversy, Mr Fitzmaurice said that SSE’s decision to pull out — meaning the only remaining bidder now only has two-thirds of a consortium — has potentially hamstrung the national plan.
Mr Fitzmaurice said while the Enet consortium consisting of Enet, SSE, and John Laing was allowed to tender for the project in part because each section would provide €100m, SSE’s departure means it is no longer the same consortium.
He said this means other broadband firms could potentially consider legal action if the Enet consortium is still awarded the plan’s rights.
“There are questions at the moment, because if you put a consortium together and it’s approved as that consortium, how in a legal framework can you be the same consortium if part of it is gone?” Mr Fitzmaurice told RTÉ Radio’s This Week programme.
“This isn’t a blame game, but broadband is as important as water and electricity now to rural Ireland and needs to be delivered.”
While the Department of Social Protection and the junior minister at the Department for Rural Affairs, Sean Kyne, said yesterday the roll-out of the national broadband plan remains on track and will begin in September, further concerns have been raised by Fianna Fáil’s communications spokesman, Timmy Dooley, who said the plan is failing before it begins.
"Fine Gael has made promises to people living in rural communities that it would roll out a National Broadband Plan. At every stage, they moved the goalposts to deflect from their abject failure," says Communications SPokesperson @timmydooley https://t.co/Mt9fRgFwaM pic.twitter.com/deQid9kyEv
— Fianna Fáil (@fiannafailparty) July 29, 2018
Speaking on The Sunday Edition on Dublin City FM as the Irish Rural Link group said the situation means the Cabinet and the Dáil should be brought back for an emergency meeting, Disabilities Minister and Independent Alliance TD Finian McGrath said he is “open” to the move.
On Saturday evening, SSE confirmed that it has pulled out of the Enet-led consortium, which is now the only bidder for the national broadband plan.
Rival bidders including Eir and Vodafone have previously stepped away from the bidding process.
While Enet has said it remains committed to the project — with its chairman, Irish-American businessman David McCourt, saying the consortium now comprises Granahan McCourt, John Laing, and the Irish Infrastructure Fund — business and political leaders reacted with dismay to the SSE news.
The long-delayed broadband plan is aiming to bring high-speed internet access to half a million homes, schools, and businesses in rural parts of the country.
