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National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress
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From a SBP article prior to the signing of the contract
Clash of the civil servants lays bare an urban-rural split
Michael Brennan
May 12, 2019Mark Griffin, from Galway, defended rural broadband
Dubliner Robert Watt is strongly opposed to the NBP
In simple terms, the broadband contract has witnessed a battle between an urban-born civil servant and a rural one. Department of Public Expenditure and Reform secretary general Robert Watt, who has outlined his trenchant opposition to the €3 billion deal, is from Dublin. Department of Communications secretary general Mark Griffin, who is equally adamant that it is value for money, is from Galway city.
In simple terms, the broadband contract has witnessed a battle between an urban-born civil servant and a rural one. Department of Public Expenditure and Reform secretary general Robert Watt, who has outlined his trenchant opposition to the €3 billion deal, is from Dublin. Department of Communications secretary general Mark Griffin, who is equally adamant that it is value for money, is from Galway city.
Griffin has spoken publicly about the importance of bringing broadband to rural Ireland. Indeed, he has a brother living in Kilcreevanty, outside Tuam who, he says, has constantly asked him what he is doing to sort out the problem. Griffin is known to be extremely irritated by the implication that only the Department of Public Expenditure cares about value for money. He laid out his case for the defence of the broadband deal, which he and his officials have spent so long working on, in a 25-page letter to Watt.
It was politely written, but was full of rebuttals of Watt’s claim that the deal was a “leap of faith”.
Griffin previously worked in the Department of Environment, where he was in charge of the water division during the early days of setting up Irish Water and planning for water charges.
He was highly regarded, which is why he got promoted to his current job as the most senior civil servant in the Department of Communications.
Watt is a very unconventional civil servant who joined from the economic consultancy Indecon. An economist by profession, he has never been afraid to voice his opinions, which has been a healthy change for a civil service which was far too deferential to ministers during the Celtic Tiger years.
He had a public row about the economy with Father Sean Healy of Cori at a forum in Dublin Castle in 2017, and got slapped down last year for suggesting that pensioners make a financial contribution to the free travel scheme.
There is considerable annoyance with Watt within the government, despite Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s insistence that he respects Watt’s right to speak out. One government source commented privately that Watt had been a great secretary general “during the economic crisis”.
That sort of talk is unlikely to bother Watt. The government gave him a three-year extension last year, meaning he will have served ten years at the head of the department by the time he finishes up in 2021.
Mark Griffin, from Galway, defended rural broadband
Dubliner Robert Watt is strongly opposed to the NBP
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