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

I thank the Minister. I want to pick up on a couple of themes, the first of which is broadband. I want to ask the Minister about two things. We have had NBI before us quite a number of times. Recently, we visited their headquarters as a committee. Two matters came up, the first of which was the delay in the process of getting the section 254 licence for the poles and the road opening licence. NBI said to us that section 254 submissions and road opening licence approvals are considered to be among the most significant risks to the project. I know there have been interdepartmental groups headed up by the Department. What is it doing to speed up that process and to interact with the local authorities?

The second point that we, as a committee, have put forward to NBI is that we need to see immediate movement on the gap intervention areas, namely, the areas alongside existing blue areas where commercial operators have rolled out fibre broadband in rural areas. Under the original plan, many of those areas may not, because of the roll-out, have got broadband for three or four years. NBI has come back to us. It has gone out to tender. It now has five private service providers that will look to provide fibre broadband in those gap intervention areas. We cannot have a situation where somebody in a rural area is looking out their back window at their next-door neighbour who has fibre while he or she does not. I have it in Murroe, County Limerick and could name many other locations. Our understanding is that under the contract NBI will be entitled to do this.

I will summarise my two questions. First, what is the Minister doing to expedite the licences being issued by the local authorities for poles being erected and road opening licences? Second, if NBI comes to the Department with a proposal to involve other commercial operators with their fibre broadband to expedite the roll-out of broadband to these gap intervention areas, will it support that proposal?