Results 4,361-4,380 of 5,661 for speaker:Alan Dillon

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: I welcome our witnesses and thank them for their efforts during Covid in terms of the delivery of this national project of huge importance. I want to focus on the overall figure mentioned regarding the connection of premises. The figure 554,000 was previously referenced. What is the targeted figure for premises to be connected by the end of 2022?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: I ask Mr. Malone to repeat the figure.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: And beyond this year?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: In terms of ramping up the project, how many contractors does NBI have on its books at this stage? Certainly this will have an impact in terms of what it can deliver per annum.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: In regard to numbers, Mr. Malone previously mentioned 800 people.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: In the constituency I represent, I got some figures back in regard to the roll-out in County Mayo. We are probably the third largest county behind Cork and Galway in terms of the need for high-speed broadband as more than 36,758 premises are covered in the NDP deployment plan. People express frustration about how it is being rolled out around the deployment areas where a number of premises...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: I understand that but when there are three deployment areas in the one townland as in this instance, outside Castlebar, it is very difficult for people to see their neighbour getting connected where it will be four years before they have an opportunity to get connected. I ask that in some instances, the design and the project team surrounding the surveys would look at townlands and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: The first port of call is to go to the local representative and ask them to address the issue and unfortunately we have no remit to do that. In regard to the importance of getting surveys and engineering designs complete in County Mayo. Mr. Malone mentioned that Eir has now become part of the roll-out per sein terms of the use of its infrastructure. Will Mr. Malone outline what agreements...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: I get that but you are using the hub and spoke model, so you are coming out from the actual urban areas.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: My final question relates to a previous question by Deputy O'Connor in regard to the number of premises that have been passed. What is the current figure? I know that NBI is the wholesaler and a number of other retailers have signed up. How many retailers have signed up to date?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: In regard to the national roll-out, how many premises have been passed at the minute and how many connections have the retailers connected to?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: So, the numbers are 7,000 and 38,000.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: Two years on we have 7,000 premises connected to a retailer.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: The cost of that for NBI per connection is €2,000 to pass-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: And €2,000 to connect

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: My first question is on the contract milestones to date. What has NBI achieved in 2020 and 2021 to receive subsidies from the Department? Could Mr. Hendrick give a summary in terms of what targets have been achieved?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: What has the independent auditor reported to date?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: Has Eir achieved its milestones in 2020 and 2021?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Alan Dillon: We are well aware of the delays caused by Covid and the original targets that had to be re-assessed. NBI is in the process of agreeing new targets for 2020. Have any concerns been expressed in the discussions with the Department around NBI's ability to ramp up in the next 12 months? Everyone understands that we need to have an acceleration plan. How is that progressing in terms of the new...