Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for clarifying. However, my question was on the number of homes connected. Some 115,000 should be connected by the end of 2021. From the Minister of State's answer, I understand that a small number of houses are starting to be connected. That is welcome.

In my constituency, some 12,000 people commute out of Laois every day, which is unsustainable, and more than 7,000 commute out of Offaly. Nearly 20,000 people commute out of both counties for work. We need to get more people working from home or working in their constituencies, using technologies such as the one we are discussing.

We cannot penalise people for delays owing to Covid. That would be unreasonable. Setting that aside, though, will the Department consider penalties if deadlines are missed? What would the penalties be? Is the Minister of State confident the project will meet all of its deadlines?

The Minister appoints one member to the board of NBI. I pointed this fault out at the time. Who is the Minister's representative on NBI at the moment and how is that situation working out?

See this speech in context