Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this important issue. Let us begin on a point of absolute agreement. The Government does not wish in any way to see any rural area, or indeed any area of Ireland, least of all in County Tipperary, lose connectivity. That is the exact opposite of what we have been working to achieve and making good progress on over recent years with the national broadband plan, which at its heart has been specially designed to support rural and remote areas, which were at risk of getting left behind without intervention. Ultimately, as the Deputy knows, the national broadband plan will connect 564,000 rural properties. I am very pleased that it is now rolling out on time and on budget but I take seriously the point the Deputy makes. While, as he will understand, I cannot comment on an individual private company, it is fair to say any commercial operator would, of course, have been aware of the Government's national broadband plan. There are regulatory processes that need to be observed, but the Department of communications has been engaging with the company and I encourage that engagement to continue for the reasons the Deputy has outlined. The company has also been engaging with ComReg, which, again, is part of its regulatory obligations. Our absolute concern here is that there cannot be disruption to consumers. Any such disruption has to be mitigated against and minimised for all the reasons the Deputy has outlined, whether that is remote working, remote working hubs, remote learning hubs, farmers, small businesses, homes, community groups - all those who have come to rely on, and develop their business or their family life around, the provision of broadband and the very positive impact it has had.

For my part, on the basis of the Deputy's raising this in the Dáil, I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, who is behind me. Their Department is abreast of the situation, and there is engagement between the Department of communications and ComReg. I will come back to Deputy Lowry and see if we can provide him with an update.

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