Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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74. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to increase the size of the National Development Plan 2018-2027 to account for the unplanned expense of the national broadband plan; the amount that may be required; the estimated impact of this increase on the general Government balance in each affected year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22567/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government's decision to proceed with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) was taken on the basis that additional expenditure that may be required, beyond that already allocated within the National Development Plan (NDP) framework, will be funded by future revenues and will accordingly not have funding repercussions for other planned projects within the NDP.

Based on preliminary assessments, current indications are that the NBP roll-out will require c. €1.6bn in additional funding over the period of the NDP out to 2027. If all other factors were to remain unchanged, this would result in a corresponding impact on the general government balance of approximately 0.1 per cent of both GDP and GNI* on an annual basis out to 2023 as compared with the projections published as part of the Stability Programme Update 2019.

As the Deputy will be aware, projections for general government revenue and expenditure beyond 2023 have not yet been compiled.