Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We had the NBI before the committee yesterday and it might be useful to relay some of what I heard clearly from it. Some of it has been well recounted. One of the major issues now and into the future is the piece between the engagement between the NBI and the local authorities. We heard accounts of their experiences. There has been some progress on section 24s, but one goes to the planning department for the poles, to transportation for the road opening licences and sometimes to different municipal districts. What I heard is that there is a need for a single point of contact within the local authority to expedite the various applications, not just from the NBI but the other partner organisations involved. That is something that would be very important to do at this stage to help the roll-out of the national broadband plan.

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