Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to pose some questions on broadband. The Minister is correct to say the need for high-quality Internet has never been greater with many people now working from home, and third-level students having to study from home as well. As I see it, there are a number of problems. First, there is a problem with physically running cables underground or carrying them overground as the case may be. Another problem that has come to light in my constituency in Clare concerns Eircode postcodes. All broadband installers are required to have an Eircode in order to make a transaction on the phone, to book a person in for a connection and to get them live and online.

I will refer to the experience of a constituent whose case has been replicated throughout the country. A person contacted An Post in August, two months before moving into a brand new home, to get an Eircode generated in the quickest possible time as the couple would both be working from home and they wanted live broadband in their house. They were told by An Post that their details had been captured and that they would be fed into a process but, crucially, they were told that Eircode postcodes are only generated every three or four months so they would be waiting for the next intake of postcodes. They phoned every broadband provider possible because there is broadband in front of their property, but one cannot get it unless one has an Eircode. They have since contacted An Post just to see where everything is at and they were told the Eircode data are not shared between Eircode to An Post until about two days before they are generated. So the person who initially tried to get an Eircode in August, hoping to have broadband in the property in September or October may now have to wait until either late November or possibly even up until February if there was a delay in the details being captured. I ask the Minister to comment on that.

The second issue I wish to raise concerns the go-to website, fibrerollout.ie, which we all check to find out where broadband is available in an area and when it is coming to specific localities. It lacks full clarity. When people search for Eircode postcodes it does not tell us enough. We need to know more about broadband roll-out at county level. I would like the Minister to respond to those two queries.