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

I am absolutely happy to discuss with the Deputy the best way to get him the most information as quickly as possible. The whole purpose of this relates to the number of premises passed. We have a fixed-price contract for a fixed term and we must deliver 540,000 homes in seven years connected to fibre. That is the overall point of the exercise. It is to be done for a fixed price of €2.1 billion. We have a larger budget than that but that is what the contract states.

We have been informed that by the end of December, the number of homes passed will be in the order of 35,000, while between 50,000 and 60,000 premises will be able to order or preorder a service by the end of the year. For more than 121,000 premises, build is under way, demonstrating the project's reach and scale. In parallel, the Department is working with NBI to recalibrate the targets for 2022 and beyond to take account of the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus is to continue to build momentum in the build, catch up on the delays experienced due to Covid-19 and plan for acceleration. Final targets for 2022 are expected to be agreed early in the new year.

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