PAC critical of spending and missed targets in broadband plan

Excessive spending on outside consultants, missed targets, and poor take-up rates in the rollout of the National Broadband Plan have been criticised by the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), which has said taxpayers may not be getting value for money.

The rollout of the plan, which for years has been dogged with controversy over cost and the bidding process, is behind schedule due to disruption caused by Covid and a number of other factors.

In a report on the project, published on Tuesday, the PAC criticised the fact that targets have not been met. It also raised concerns about expenditure on consultants, and urged the Government to “develop in-house expertise” instead.

The contract for the National Broadband Plan set a target of 115,000 premises to be passed by January 31st last. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) – the company awarded the contract – later issued a revised target of 60,000 premises by the end of 2021.

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However, the actual number of premises passed by the network by the end of January 2022 was just 34,454.

PAC chairman Brian Stanley said NBI has failed to provide a specific target for premises to be passed by the end of this year, but estimated that on-site construction would be completed for between 100,000 and 130,000 premises.

“NBI also estimated that it is currently running six months behind in terms of the project’s progress,” he said. “Of the number of premises passed, only 7,000 were connected to the network at that time, which represents an 18.4 per cent take-up rate.

“The committee is not convinced that NBI’s targeted 85 per cent take-up rate is realistic. Given that NBI has received €132 million in subsidies to the end of quarter three 2021, the committee is concerned that the progress achieved to date does not represent value for money for the taxpayer.”

The committee recommended the Department of Communications “urgently” provides it with a copy of the remedial plan agreed with NBI for the number of premises to be passed in 2022 by the network.

It also said the State should work with NBI to minimise the delays to the deployment of the network, and take “a strong oversight role” in ensuring NBI meets its 2022 targets.

Investment

“The department must strive to dramatically increase the take-up rate of the network given the level of investment by the State in this project,” said Mr Stanley.

The report also said the Department of Communications spent a total of €19 million on external advisory services related to the contract in 2020 and in 2021.

“While the committee recognises the importance of seeking advice on a project in which the State is to invest up to €2.7 billion, it is concerned at the level of expenditure in this area,” said Mr Stanley.

“The department should urgently explore the recruitment of staff to develop in-house expertise with regard to the project and its oversight.

“The committee would also like to see any projections the department has on expenditure on external consultants over the lifetime of the project, as well as an estimate on how much could be saved with the recruitment of in-house staff.”