Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I represent Limerick and north Tipperary and I have a letter from people living on both sides of the border. The big issue is the blue connection. These blue connections are to be serviced by Eir and other fibre broadband connectors but a large number of people have written to me who live perhaps 200 m from a blue connection. They are wondering when they will be connected.

Will priority be given to people near existing or blue connections? There may be a road where houses are connected to existing broadband providers such as Eir at one end but at the other end, the houses are not connected because of the existing roll-out. When will there be a system on the National Broadband Ireland website where people can input an postcode and know when they will be connected? As of today, how many premises are connected to the NBI network?

I agree with the comment that this is akin to the electrification of Ireland and in ways I almost regard it as more important. Rural electrification brought light and allowed people to function better but, in many cases, people will not be able to work unless they have increased fibre capacity. It is about balanced regional development. NBI is playing a part in the second wave of a rural electrification programme. It is an important feature. When will NBI have a "traffic light" system on its website so people can see via their postcode when they will be connected?