Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An important story broke in The Currency magazine today relating to National Broadband Ireland, which could have serious implications for the roll-out of broadband across rural Ireland. In May 2019, I warned the then Taoiseach and current Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, that the contract signed by the Government to deliver the national broadband plan was a bad deal for the taxpayer. I raised a concern that the contract would see the taxpayer shell out over €3 billion upfront to roll out the broadband network and, at the end of the day, the State would not own the infrastructure. I also raised the concern that the bidder had very little skin in the game and could walk away at any time.

It now transpires that the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Robert Watt, shared my concerns. In a memo to the Government he described the contract as a "leap of faith" with "unprecedented risk" to the Exchequer in an asset we will not even own. Today's article raises serious questions about this deal. Will the Taoiseach confirm that Oak Hill Advisors are the ultimate majority shareholder of National Broadband Ireland? This is crucial because Oak Hill Advisors is a US firm specialising not in long-term infrastructure investment but as a vulture fund investing in distressed debt. Will the Taoiseach confirm how much this consortium has contributed and how much it has already recouped from this deal?

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