Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 January 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland

Mr. Peter Hendrick:

Any large infrastructure project is typically complex, whether it is the contract or the corporate structure. The contract runs to 3,500 pages. The corporate structure might look complex, certainly from the perspective of the public. What we have sought to do and shared on our website under corporate governance structures is to explain the corporate structure, the financing structure, how the organisation is set up, the board and the shareholders. We have explained as simply as possible the summary of all those things to give assurance around the funding, our board and our shareholder structure. Every time something is raised, we are always trying to inform further. When we came before the committee in September, there was a request to add our board members to our website. We have done that, and that can be seen on our website now.

We have also looked at the 3,500-page contract to see how we can make that into something that is easier to understand. Not that anyone might necessarily read the 100 pages we have put up, but it certainly is a guidance. If something arises in the future, you can go to the summary of the contract and can see, for example, that is in section 5 or schedule 10 within the contract and understand the reason there are protection mechanisms or clawbacks in place, without having to refer to a 3,500-page contract. We are trying to share the governance and controls we have in place.

In regard to the funding, what we have done is typical of any other infrastructure project. We effectively view the shareholder equity and loans as shareholder funding. There is no committed time in regard to when they get paid dividends or returns on that money. It has gone in as it would in any other infrastructure project. In regard to referencing it being equal to any other technical project, Openreach in the UK, the British telecom fibre network, has expected returns of 12.5%. Other fibre networks range from 12% to 15% return. Other infrastructure projects, such as wind farm projects, that I can talk to-----

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