Mr. Barry Kelly:

There are a number of blocks within that. One covers what are effectively build assumptions. Within the financial model we would have agreed with the Minister at the outset as part of the contract, there were assumptions made about the remediation of ducts, poles etc., as Mr. Hendrick mentioned. To the extent that those assumptions are wrong, the contingency pot is eaten into. However, to the extent there are savings against that, they get clawed back 100% by the Minister. There are assumptions in respect of rates paid to Eir. ComReg obviously sets the rates for Eir. To the extent they change, the pot is eaten into up to the cap. If it goes above that, NBI swallows the excess. However, to the extent there are savings — ComReg has recently spoken about the potential to reduce some of the costs — 100% goes back to the Minister. The third pot relates to connections. As we connect up to 550,000-odd premises over the next 25 years, some will be in more easy to access areas and some will be in more difficult to access areas. The average costs will vary from premises to premises. Where there are more expensive connections, we can draw from the pot up to a certain cap. Similarly, where costs are below the average, we will put money back into the pot.

On the previous point, the subsidy is capped at €2.1 billion, plus the €500 million contingency, and it is up to NBI to bear any costs on top of that.