Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has gone ahead and appointed Granahan McCourt as the preferred bidder for the national broadband plan, yet he has not received basic information on the bidder. What is the full membership of the consortium and who is ultimately financing it? The Minister has confirmed that Granahan McCourt did not even have the €175 million in equity that was needed up front so who is providing the money? I ask the Minister to provide a breakdown of who is involved in that.

In the event of anything going wrong, we have been told in recent days by the Minister and the Taoiseach that Granahan McCourt will be responsible for up to €2.4 billion of funding. However, it did not have €220 million or even €175 million at the start. Who is providing that cover? What instrument will be used to provide that cover? The project information memorandum seems to suggest that all that is required is a letter of comfort and that such will suffice.

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