Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to Deputy Tom Hayes for raising this important issue.

The provision of high-speed broadband to all post-primary schools is a policy that the Government has embraced since taking office and one that I am proud to say we are well on the way to realising. I strongly believe this significant investment in our current and future generation of schoolchildren is money well spent. It is also a key investment in future employment and employability as it feeds into the development of a more ICT-literate workforce.

In February 2012, I formally announced the national roll-out of 100 Mbps broadband services to post-primary schools across the country. The national roll-out of this project is being undertaken on a phased basis, with all schools scheduled to be completed by the start of the academic year in September 2014.

Roll-out in 2012 saw high-speed broadband connectivity installed in 202 schools, 78 having been connected in the pilot, in the 14 western and midlands counties covering Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Galway, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath.

The selection of schools for connection in 2012 was undertaken following the technical review of the pilot project and discussions with our project partners, namely, HEAnet, the Department of Education and Skills and PDST Technology in Education, and with the service providers engaged on the pilot project. It was considered that a geographical roll-out would provide the project with the most economically beneficial method of achieving the project objectives within the available budget. In addition, the identified counties, mainly in the west and north of the country, were in receipt of the slowest average broadband speeds under the schools broadband programme.

This approach to the selection of schools was adopted for the 2013 roll-out, when all second level schools in Dublin, Kildare and Meath will be connected. A geographical roll-out allows for the aggregation of backhaul links to provide the optimum solution for the schools selected for connection. It will also allow service providers to provide the local school access connection in a cost-effective manner to deliver to multiple schools within similar locations at a reduced cost to the Exchequer.

I can assure Deputy Hayes that the extension to south Tipperary will not be held up because of the constrained financial circumstances. The roll-out will continue to September 2014, when schools in south Tipperary, along with those in Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Limerick, north Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow, will be connected. The procurement of services to ensure this is achieved as quickly as possible is currently being undertaken.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of visiting Presentation Secondary School in Warrenmount, Dublin, where I saw at first hand the real and tangible benefits that this programme has delivered to our post-primary students. The availability of high-speed reliable broadband is changing both the way our teachers teach and the way our students learn. What I witnessed that day convinced me that the course we are on is one that will fundamentally change the use of ICT in our classrooms and help us to deliver the digital workforce to drive economic recovery.

With the infrastructure in place, the technology accessible, and the guidance of progressive educators, we have the potential to ensure that ICT will play a central role in the development of the digital citizens of tomorrow and allow the Irish economy to compete in the global marketplace.

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