Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will be delighted to take part in any forum to share information about this. I absolutely believe in transparency.

I have asked my officials how much more of the contract we can publish. A huge amount of the contract has been published. Some parts have been redacted. As I understand it, that is in line with the mandatory provisions of section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014. In so far as it is possible, I have asked my officials to ascertain what they can do to expedite the process.

The Deputy asked about the number of homes that have been passed. NBI has confirmed that, as of early December, almost 150,000 premises are under construction or constructed across all 26 counties. In line with the remedial plan to address Covid-19-related delays, which was agreed with the Department earlier this year, NBI was to have passed almost 60,000 homes available for immediate connection by the end of 2021. As would be expected with a large-scale infrastructure build, challenges have been encountered as a result of Covid-19 and other issues. NBI is actively working with its network and build partners to address these issues as they arise and recently confirmed to the Department that the number of premises passed by the end of December will be approximately 35,000, while between 50,000 and 60,000 premises will be able to order or to pre-order a service by the end of the year. For more than 121,000 premises, build is under way. This demonstrates that the project is reaching scale.

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