Mr. Peter McCarthy:

When the Department approved the extension in March 2017, there was just three years remaining on the phase 1 concession. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment commissioned an independent report on whether it should re-tender the MANs contract or extend the term of the existing contract, as allowed for in the original contract. We had a contract that started in 2004 and another in 2009. Both contracts had a provision for extension. It is not unusual for large infrastructure projects to have this extension provision and this contract had this extension provision in it.

The Norcontel report completed in June 2016 is unambiguous in its recommendations that the preferred option, based on the analysis, is to extend the current concession agreements. This report also makes a variety of other conclusions. The MANs had fulfilled the role for which they were conceived and designed. The MANs had been successfully operated and managed by the MSC appointed. The MANs continued to make a financial return to the State, as specified in the concession agreements. The role and position of the MSC in providing open and transparent access and connectivity is acknowledged and accepted by the service providers that avail of MANs service.