Mr. Patrick Neary:

I am not familiar with the Castlerea area but in general, what we have available to everybody via NBI's website is the nominal plan, which gives the sequence for when each of the deployment areas is anticipated to come live. In regard to a deployment area, the first thing NBI does is survey the infrastructure in the area to uncover the complexities of how to bring broadband to a specific premises in that complete deployment area. At that point, it will unravel whether the information on which it based its initial high-level design needs to be updated or whether there needs to be optimisation of the design. In general, 99% of the premises that are within a deployment area remain in that deployment area. There is movement of certain premises. NBI will attempt to bring premises into a deployment area if, following a survey, it is determined that the infrastructure is there to bring in extra premises and the technology allows for it. That happens consistently across the deployment areas. However, there is a counterbalance to that. Where the infrastructure is not fit for purpose, there is a particular local issue, an area is designated an area of special conservation or there is some other special circumstance such that for certain premises the infrastructure is not there or feasible to be re-used, those premises are then allocated to a neighbouring deployment area where the infrastructure is serving those homes. What happens in that case, unfortunately, is the scheduling of those premises follows the adjacent deployment area. Whereas the existing deployment area may have been scheduled for this year - I am not sure if that is the case in this instance but there is a deployment area in Roscommon scheduled for this year - the adjacent deployment area may be scheduled for 2023. The premises that move to the adjacent deployment area become part of the deployment area low-level design. When the low-level design is completed, what is in and what is out of a deployment area is pretty much settled. It is often the case that only a very small number of premises are moved. Typically, there are additions rather than removals. At that point, there is a higher level of accuracy on the deployment timeline, but there is still further work to be done, including pre-works, which is the Eir make ready activity. This is followed by the build. The accuracy of timeline increases as you get through those activities, to the point where NBI can give an absolute date for when coverage at a premises will be available. In the circumstance where a date has moved substantially, it is most likely the case that a premises has been moved to an adjacent deployment area because of what was uncovered during the surveys on the ground. If the Deputy provides me with the Eircode, I can look into the matter.