Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 December 2019
550. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount spent to date on the national broadband plan; and the cost of external consultants, legal advice and services and internal Departmental staff costs, respectively in this regard. [52829/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe contract that I signed with National Broadband Ireland on 19 November is the Government’s plan to rollout high speed broadband to the 1.1 million people living and working in the nearly 540,000 premises including almost 100,000 businesses and farms, along with 695 schools, where commercial operators will not commit to deliver the service.
The total amount spent to date on the National Broadband Plan is €30.905 million. This amount is largely comprised of the cost of external advisers, as well as other costs associated with the procurement process. The external advisers have provided advice across a broad range of expertise including, technical advice, financial and procurement advice, legal advice, economic and strategic advice, environmental advice and insurance and tax advice. The cost of external advisers to date is €30.224 million.
My Department's NBP team has also been supported by other officers across the Department. While the Department does not operate on a basis of allocating costs for each staff member across its range of functions, salary and other administration related costs for the Department are published in the annual Estimates and in the Appropriation Account.
