Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his election and look forward to working with him over this Dáil term.

The national broadband plan is a priority for the Government. The plan is being delivered through a combination of investment by telecommunications operators and a State intervention in areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming. This is reflected in the high-speed broadband map at www.. The area marked blue on the map is where commercial providers have previously indicated plans to deliver high-speed broadband services. These represent 1.6 million premises.  The area marked amber is the State intervention area and represents more than 750,000 premises. Individuals can check whether their premises is in a blue or amber area by entering their address or Eircode. They can also e-mail the Department, quoting their Eircode, at 

Last week, I announced that a further 170,000 premises will need to be covered by the State intervention.  Further analysis is being undertaken by my Department to identify the exact location of these premises and to adjust the high-speed broadband map. The Department has moved to the next stage of the procurement process and three qualifying bidders will commence dialogue with the Department next week.  This will be followed by the issue of final tender documents.  The current schedule envisages contracts being awarded by June 2017.  The timing of each stage of the procurement is dependent on several factors, including the complexities that may be encountered during the process. Once contract or contracts are in place, a prioritisation programme will be put in place in consultation with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. A detailed roll-out plan for the network will be published and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is establishing regional action groups, working with local authorities, local enterprise offices, Leader groups and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build.

In line with European Union state aid rules, the process must be "technology neutral".  Bidders will be asked to propose solutions which meet the national broadband plan service requirements, which will include a separate solution for businesses and evidence that the network will be future-proofed to meet the ongoing demands and keep pace with developments elsewhere in the market.  It is recognised that a significant fibre build will be required, regardless of the technology used to provide services to individual premises.  Once the successful bidder or bidders are chosen, the technology to be deployed will be made clear.

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