Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The nature of the plan is 100% coverage. The country has been divided into 227 areas. The contractor only gets paid when it connects 100% of premises within that area. In other words, it has to pass fibre past every farm, business and home to get its payment. This is not a scheme that leaves people out. It completes by the end of 2026 and at that point 100% of the premises in the intervention area in rural Ireland – 560,000 houses and 1.1 million people – will have access to fibre broadband if they want it. In fact, at that point, at the rate we are going, urban Ireland may not have everybody connected. It is urban Ireland that will have the problem with blackspots unless I devise a blackspot scheme for urban Ireland. In fact, rural Ireland will get there first in 2026 at the current rate of progress. Urban Ireland will be covered by the end of 2028.

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