Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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It is very useful and long correspondence, which arises from our meeting with the Department. I have a few additional questions that I would like to ask the Department. On page 3, in relation to the use of existing poles and overhead lines, the Department states:

Existing overhead poles and lines will be used where possible to lay/hang the new fibre cables. It is forecast that only 12% of the project will be new build as designs will utilise existing infrastructure to a very significant degree; this approach is consistent with State Aid requirements.

Has it been determined what upgrade or repair costs there will be if the existing infrastructure requires maintenance? There may well be a need for replacement poles or other locations to hang the cables. Has the cost of that been determined? It is not uncommon to see a whole row of poles where one has fallen over. There will have to be an upgrade of that.

Those poles will not be the obligation of Eir; they may well be the responsibility of National Broadband Ireland, NBI. I am trying to establish if it has done any assessment of the cost of maintenance regarding the use of existing infrastructure.