Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Under state aid and other EU rules, I am not in a position to specify a required technology but I am in a position to specify that the service would have a minimum download speed of 30 Mbps and a minimum upload speed of 6 Mbps. If the Deputy reviews the literature and the experience in other countries and the technologies that are available elsewhere, he might come to the conclusion that it is likely that fibre will feature in the deployment of such a service here. When we specify that minimum requirement, it is likely that fibre will feature prominently in it. I had to remind the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Moynihan, a few minutes ago that when this Government came into office in 2011, some 300,000 addresses throughout this country had access to high-speed broadband. That figure is now 1.3 million and it will be 1.6 million by the end of 2016. By 2018, 85% of the country will have been covered.

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