Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On the national broadband plan, it is critical that everywhere in the country is able to access high-speed broadband. It has been subject to a number of delays for two to three reasons and we must overcome each of them. The first of these was Covid. We all know about the difficulties with getting contractors in and getting work done but that should no longer stop us.

Staff staying away from the office should not affect the NBP, so that is manageable.

The second reason was, as the Chairman said, the section 254 licensing. It was a particular problem through the spring and the summer and was subject to real difficulty in getting poles through in time. Recognising it as a problem, both the NBI team and the team in our Department worked with local authorities and overcame a lot of those difficulties. I happened to be talking to the officials this morning, and my sense is that a lot of those difficulties have been overcome. There are still some difficulties, with one or two councils concerned about issues with putting a duct in the ground on the verge of private road or private space-----