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

First, I will answer the Deputy's question about the communication of connection times to people, which is of great interest to them. When I was appointed last year, the website for NBI only contained timelines for those people who would be connected within the next 18 months. After that, people were only told that it would be "some time" in the future. I ask for detailed information to be provided, even if that meant that people were being told they would be connected in 2024, 2025 or 2026. I wanted people to be provided with that information so that they could plan, so that they could know that they would need something else in the meantime or that they would not be able work from home during that period. It is a seven-year project so if people are told that their connection will be in year six or year seven, they are going to be disappointed, naturally, unless we can accelerate it.

The Deputy also asked about the relationship between Eir and NBI and about the quality of Eir's existing network. The company does not really know what is going to be in a duct underground until it opens it up. NBI has said that it has found that the ducts are in worse condition than expected, based on its initial survey of sections of the network and that many ducts are blocked. Eir has had a large number of owners over a relatively short period. Some of those owners were short term and they did not invest for the long term and as a result, the Eir network requires a lot of investment. The company is committed to that. A new chief executive will be appointed in the coming weeks and I look forward to meeting him. I will speak to him in the same way that I spoke to his predecessor. The current chairman will remain in place and I will continue to speak to him too. There will be a lot of dialogue between me and Eir, between NBI and Eir and between me and NBI and we will do everything we can to make sure that Eir and NBI deliver on what they are required to do and that they accelerate that delivery.

See this speech in context