Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for raising the issue. County Tipperary is as much an important part of the national band plan as County Carlow or, indeed, any other county. I look forward to providing details of the same investment we are going to have to make in that county. That does not excuse or remove Eir from the necessity to start providing customer service in a way it is not and so that its reputation is not being damaged by the level of delay. As Deputy Cahill said, customers are finding it difficult to even make contact with the company.

I will say to both Deputies that the whole project is aimed at getting broadband connectivity to every single house in the country. The national broadband plan was set out as a seven-year project. We will see if we can shorten that. I believe that is possible, primarily, because the demand for the product now will make a real business case for National Broadband Ireland to connect as many houses as quickly as it can.

Post-Covid, this habit of remote working or working from home will be embedded into everyday society. We will, perhaps, see that rather than working or commuting five days a week people might commute three or four days a week, and those one or two days at home will be facilitated by having broadband. Having a complete national roll-out whereby no house or area is left behind facilitates it. The key measure of success will be not just getting to where broadband passes the house but with the householders taking it on. That will be an imperative now post-Covid. I hope that is the greatest stimulus to accelerating the roll-out.

In other areas we are relying on Eir, which is rolling out high-speed broadband in significant parts of rural Ireland. It is ahead of schedule on that. As Deputy Cahill said, it may have a problem with its customer service but the quality of the actual broadband when it is introduced is this fast-fibre high-speed connectivity.

I mentioned other providers. SIRO, for example, is another company rolling out high-speed broadband in other towns, villages and cities across the country. We have, therefore, an effective roll-out happening. I want to see it happen faster but that does not absolve the companies while operating it from making sure their customer relations are working effectively. I will pass on some of the Deputy's comments to the company when I meet it next because it is important that the experience of his constituents is heard.

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