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The Government can’t afford to put off the national broadband plan if the beef sector needs a no-deal Brexit bailout, as it is an essential issue for rural Ireland, IFA president Joe Healy has said.
On Friday, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told an Oireachtas finance committee meeting that a decision on how the national broadband plan proceeds has been delayed due to the possible need of a bailout for the beef sector.
Healy told RTÉ radio one that “in relation to Brexit, the EU would need to pony-up for a lot of the requirements with support and compensation packages. In the case of a no-deal, no country stands to be worse affected than Ireland and no sector stands to be devastated [as much as agriculture].”
Despite new market developments for Irish beef, Healy said Ireland’s exports to the UK increased last year.
“There is a lot at stake,” he said, highlighting that broadband and beef are two key things for rural Ireland.
Broadband costs
At the finance committee meeting last week, it was said that the overall cost of the national broadband plan has spiralled from €500m to €3bn, a six-fold increase.
A decision on the future of the project is to be made at Easter.
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