Mr. T.J. Malone:

It is very much our desire to bring this in faster. Covid-19 is an issue but the faster we can get the roll-out done, the better. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and departmental officials have approached us and asked us to consider looking at how we can accelerate the plan and bring those houses that may be in years six or seven into an earlier part of the programme.

To put some context on this, the seven-year programme was very ambitious and 144,000 km of fibre must be installed in that time. In saying that fast it does not seem like much but putting it into perspective, it is like circumnavigating the globe three and half times. There is a significant challenge and build ahead of us over the next seven years.

That said, we are very conscious about this and we are looking into it. We have assembled a team that is specifically for looking at every single possibility of accelerating the programme and no stone will be left unturned in that way. We are looking at everything. Two of the critical lead time factors in any acceleration are survey and design. If they are not done, the build cannot be accelerated. We have taken the initiative to go ahead and accelerate the surveys and design, as I mentioned, so when it comes to a point in time when we may be able to accelerate the build, we will be able to catch up.

The survey and design is very much in our control and something we can gear up to but the build has a number of other stakeholders and factors involved. There are infrastructure access providers, local authorities and licensing and permits that must also be dealt with. All these areas and constraints have been looked at right across the board. There are several bodies being worked on to ensure we can try to accelerate the process. It is very much our desire to do it.