Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 October 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General - Chapter 9: Implementation of the National Broadband Plan

9:30 am

Mr. Fergal Mulligan:

I would like to add another fact, which is that, as a commercial company, NBI has not received any public money when it has not built anything. The delays in the building have had a significant impact on its business because it does not get the subsidy from the State and because it is not connecting customers as quickly as it would like. Its investors are clearly worried about that and are putting significant pressure on the company to go faster. The company's primary concern would be that it is not building quickly enough, not that it is getting sanctioned. The sanction would be a secondary concern.