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

Prior to the pandemic, there were remote workers in roughly one in ten households, but today there are remote workers in four out of ten households. This is as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. While Covid-19 and the resultant lockdowns will peter out over the next 18 months or so, remote working is now becoming mainstream. It is going to be a key part of our future working environment, as will the issue of blended working, where people will work at home for a number of days per week, may hotdesk for other days in the week and may go into the corporate headquarters of their company one day per week, one day per fortnight, or a couple of days per month.

All this is being brought about by the significant investment taking place as part of the national broadband plan and we have already seen the commercial investment that has been stimulated by the action of Government. We now have a situation where close to four out of five homes in this country have access to high-speed broadband and over the next couple of years the remaining cohort of the population will get access to high-speed broadband.

One particular issue is not getting the attention it should whereby some homes will be left behind and as a result those people will not be able to work remotely. Some are not able to work remotely now. Some will not be able to work remotely in the future because they will not have the capacity within their broadband network. The resale value of their house will be significantly undermined if they do not have access to a high-speed broadband network.

From next month, National Broadband Ireland, NBI, is rolling out fibre-optic cable to communities right across this country. People need to check their colour on the national broadband plan map on the Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. People in dark blue areas on that map who do not get a minimum of 30 Mbps consistently, day and night, need to report this to the Department and have the national broadband plan adapted so they are included in the State intervention element.

We are talking about 80,000 homes in towns and villages and even in the centre of this city that do not have access to high-speed broadband at the moment. We are currently dependant an operators reporting difficulties in connecting homes in order for those homes to be included on the State intervention element of the national broadband plan. Unless people check their colour code and report it along with their Eircode to the Department, they could end up being left behind.

I have had instances of people saying they are not getting 30 Mbps, but it is grand and it will do them fine. It will do them fine at the moment but in four or five years' time, when their neighbours on either side have fibre-optic cable and connect up all their devices - heating, lighting, audio and television systems along with working from home - those people will not be able to do the same. Those people will not be able to sell their home because they do not have access to that fibre and all because they shoved their hand in their pockets back in 2020 and said saying they would be alright.

It is imperative that people act now with regard to it. We have an ideal time during the lockdown to do that because significant demand is being put on fibre and on broadband capacity at the moment. If, therefore, people are going to have problems with their broadband, it will be now. I strongly urge every single home in the country to go onto the national broadband plan website at and check the colour code. If their area is dark blue on the website and they do not get a minimum of 30 Mbps day and night then they need to report that quickly. National Broadband Ireland is now beginning to pass homes and once it has passed it may not necessarily come back to those particular communities and those individuals could lose out. They could be left without high-speed broadband in the future and could be in a situation where they will be unable to sell their homes.

Those who find their home is in an amber area on the national broadband plan website need to do two things. They need to go to the National Broadband Ireland website and register their Eircode so they will be updated on when the broadband is coming to their home and community. They need to look at how that fibre cable is going to come from the nearest pole to their front door. The slowest element of delivery of the national broadband plan is connecting it from the pole to the door. People need to decide if it is coming via the pole and the existing line of sight from the pole to their house. If so, they need to make sure their trees are pruned back. They cannot prune those back between March and September so they need to do that work now rather than looking at the fibre-optic cable on the pole outside their door and waiting until September until they can be connected.

If they are connecting by duct, they should check a duct is in place or go onto the National Broadband Ireland website. The specifications are there for anyone who is building a new home or putting down a new driveway so that person can put the ducting in place now in advance the contractor coming. It is imperative that people do not sit back but that they act quickly and check their colour code on the national broadband plan website and ensure they get delivery of a high-speed broadband solution for their home. They will be able to work remotely in future and their family and the future generation will not be left behind. They will not be in a situation where if that property is disposed of in the future it will be unsellable because they do not have access to what will be a basic piece of infrastructure, that is, high-speed broadband.

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