Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to the points the Deputy has raised, especially on tree-trimming, Safepass issues and the others. As we all know, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of good, reliable broadband to ensure citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working. Every parent in Ireland who has home-schooled knows the importance of good broadband. We have all taken Zoom meetings at home and we have dropped off those calls every so often. Everyone realises the importance of remote working, educating and other online facilities.

It is reflected in the commitments in the programme for Government where delivery of the National Broadband Plan will be a key enabler of many of the policies envisaged, particularly around increased levels of remote working. The NBP will ensure citizens throughout the entire country have access to high-speed broadband services and that nobody is left without that vital service. Despite the impact of the pandemic, NBI continues to make steady progress on its deployment activities. As I have mentioned, more than174,000 premises across 26 counties have now been surveyed. Not unlike other large construction projects, Covid-19, as the Deputy has said, has had an impact on the delivery programme and has resulted in delays to aspects of the project. The delays NBI have had to mitigate include, among other things, mobilisation of key contractors with restrictions on operations, supply chain and logistic delays, nationally and internationally. The recruitment of key personnel, as NBI and its contractors scale up, includes challenges associated with onboarding and training people. Inevitably, like many other organisations NBI and contractor staff are at risk of contracting Covid-19 themselves or may have to restrict their movements as a result of being a close contact.

As I already mentioned, the Government has committed to seek to accelerate the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan. This includes the possibility of bringing forward premises which are currently in year six or seven to year five and exploring the potential to accelerate the network roll-out. Of the 2.4 million premises across Ireland, 77% now have access to high-speed broadband of more than 30 Mbps through commercial operators. NBI will address the remaining premises through the National Broadband Plan.

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I will pass on his comments to the Minister.

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