Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That brings us back then to where this all started. When the State got advice from KPMG and PwC, they advised that the gap funding model was the best way forward because it would provide a competitive environment. Looking at the marketplace, they identified Eir, ESB, and others. They referred to the amount of infrastructure that was already there, and the capacity of the State to expect a competitive environment because bidders would leverage their existing infrastructure. That was the guiding principle upon which this was established. Ms Lennon has said that despite Eir's efforts to leverage that infrastructure, the NBI procurement process as it was constituted effectively prevented Eir from making savings based on its existing infrastructure.