Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has received a parliamentary reply showing that the former Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, met with representatives of Enet including PR advisor to Enet, Eoin O’Neachtain, in December 2016, to discuss Enet’s management of the Municipal Area Networks (MANs) just 3 months before former Minister for Communications Denis Naughten made the decision to extend the MANs contracts, without tender, up to 2030 despite the fact they were not due to expire until at least 2019.
“To learn now that the former Minister for Finance met with Enet officials about the MANs just 3 months before the MANs contract was extended in the way it was raises more questions.”
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has received a parliamentary reply showing that the former Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, met with representatives of Enet including PR advisor to Enet, Eoin O’Neachtain, in December 2016, to discuss Enet’s management of the Municipal Area Networks (MANs) just 3 months before former Minister for Communications Denis Naughten made the decision to extend the MANs contracts, without tender, up to 2030 despite the fact they were not due to expire until at least 2019.
Deputy Murphy said there are now serious questions over how and why that decision was taken to extend the MANs contract suddenly and without tender given that we are now aware that BT had written to the Department of Communications expressing an interest in bidding for the MANs should the contracts come up for renewal.
Catherine Murphy said:
“In a series of parliamentary replies to me, including a schedule showing all meetings between either David McCourt, representatives of Enet, and the Department of Communications, it is clear that there was almost an open door policy in Government buildings for Enet and/or David McCourt.
“I have said previously that we need to understand the rationale for the former Minister’s decision to extend the MANs contract – which is essentially the precursor to the NBP process – when he did because soon after that contract extension the State bought into Enet at a cost of approximately €200 million and it is important to understand if that extension materially affected the price paid by the State for its 78% purchase of Enet in 2017.
“To learn now that the former Minister for Finance met with Enet officials about the MANs just 3 months before the MANs contract was extended in the way it was raises more questions and this is why I have asked the Taoiseach to extend any review of the NBP process to date to include a review of the process leading up to the NBP; namely the MANs contract.”
19th October 2018
ENDS