The cost of consultancy services to the struggling national broadband service has doubled in a year, information secured by Labour TD Seán Sherlock has revealed.

The secretary general of the Department of the Environment, Mark Griffin, told Mr Sherlock that, since 2020, three companies have been providing external advisory services to National Broadband Ireland at a cost of more than €16.5million. Another €9.4million has been spent hiring infrastructure from outside firms.

The response to Mr Sherlock also reveals the department has 20 outside advisers, with almost as many working on the failing project as its current 25 employees.

The figures come amid growing concern over the rollout of the broadband plan, which missed a target in January to pass 60,000 premises - a target that had already been cut from 115,000.

The figures reveal that, since 2020, the highest beneficiaries have been Ernst & Young, with payments of €8.25million. These fees more than doubled, from under €2.5million in 2020 to almost €5.4million last year.

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A second company, Analysys Mason, has received €6.95million for technical advice. These fees also jumped, from €2,203,873 in 2020 to €3,951,673 in 2021.

A third group of consultants, William Fry, has been paid €1.32million for legal advice. In the case of this group, payments have almost trebled from €296,738 in 2020 to €846,433 in 2021.

The figures reveal that spending on consultants has more than doubled, from €4.928million in 2020 to €10.131 million in 2021.

Mr Griffin said: "Arrangements are in place for effective knowledge transfer between advisers and the core team in order to mitigate the reliance on external advisers."

However, he warned: "There are some elements of this project which will require specialist advice on an ongoing basis.'"

The secretary general also gave details of fees paid to companies, including Eir and BT, for the use of their infrastructure.

The costs for 2020 and 2021 totalled €9.4million, he said.

Mr Sherlock said this was "another example of how the spend on consultancy services in this country is staggering".

He said: "Big-ticket projects like the National Broadband Plan are yet another big pay day for consultants. Meanwhile, TDs like me are still wondering when essential broadband services will become available to my constituents."