Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the national broadband plan, the expenditure relates to the required activities under each phase of the programme. Due to the complexity of the procurement process and the scale of the project, it can be difficult to accurately forecast the monthly expenditure on an annual basis. For example, expenditure on certain activities in a particular month or quarter may not be reflected until subsequent months or quarters. The level of underspend has no impact on progress in the national broadband plan procurement process and the timeline for the subsequent roll-out. Additional expenditure would not have led to the conclusion of the procurement process any faster or, subsequently, to an earlier start point to the roll-out. That does not have a bearing on the roll-out and the money that has been required at various times in the process has been available to that process. As members can see, year on year there have been sufficient funds there to do that. Thankfully, we are nearing the end of this complex process and the Department is currently evaluating the final tender which was received towards the end of last month.