Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1491. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount expended on hosting meetings, entertainment and related services associated with the national broadband plan in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019, by amount, service provider and services engaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35116/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The NBP process has, by its nature, involved a significant level of interaction with each of the bidders that participated in that process since Competitive Dialogue commenced in July 2016. This has included over 800 hours of meetings with all bidders since that date. This procurement process is ongoing, with continued meetings with the Preferred Bidder to ensure all necessary financial and legal requirements are in place prior to financial close and award of contract. As part of this engagement the NBP team has incurred expenditure totalling approximately €5,450 for costs including light refreshments and room hire when necessary. There has been no expenditure on entertainment. A breakdown of the costs is set out in the following table.