Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2022
145. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the sanctions that were applied to the provider of the National Broadband Plan for failure to reach targets; the future benchmarks expected that is, the targets to be reached in terms of roll-out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28376/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) contract with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) contains a number of targets and milestones to be completed by NBI in order to deliver the rollout of high-speed broadband services to all premises in the Intervention Area by the end of 2026. The contract contains a comprehensive set of protections and legally binding obligations, as required under the Public Spending Code, to ensure that public contracts are managed and delivered to the specified standard, within budget and on time. NBI is only entitled to claim the payment of relevant subsidy when the targets and milestones have been met. The contract requires significant reporting of costs and revenues to the Department, with subsidy paid only on achievement of contract milestones which are verified independently. Subsidy payments are therefore held until NBI meets these milestones. Failure to meet these milestones has financial impacts for NBI as the company is not able to draw down subsidy.
The sanctions regime, which came into effect from 1 February 2022, is provided in relation to meeting Key Performance Indicators concerning connecting premises and operating the network service. NBI is required to meet agreed performance levels for both the connection of premises and the operational performance of the network. Under an Updated Interim Remedial Plan (UIRP) for 2022, that NBI recently concluded with my Department, a revised target was agreed of 102,000 premises passed by the end of Contract Year 3. For any milestones missed from 1 February 2022, sanctions will apply and will be calculated and imposed in line with the contract.
