Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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59. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is satisfied that the actions agreed by the mobile phone and broadband task force implementation group are on course to deliver broadband coverage for the Oldtown area of north County Dublin and other rural areas without adequate broadband access; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29483/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I listened to the Minister's earlier reply on broadband provision. Conscious of the consistent promises of 100% coverage, I raise the specific example of Oldtown, a village in north County Dublin less than 30 km from Dublin city centre. When I asked the Minister previously about this issue in November 2016, Oldtown was in the amber category on the broadband implementation map, which indicated an area marked for State intervention to be included in the State's programme. The area is now in the light blue section of the map with no commercial provider servicing that area or parts of it.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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If Deputy Clare Daly has heard the previous reply I will not go through it again but will answer the Deputy's specific question. Yes, the area is in light blue, which means that in the next 77 weeks Oldtown will have high-speed broadband as part of the Eir commitment agreement. This is some good news for north County Dublin. They are no longer in the intervention area and they will be part of the 300,000 premises that will get high-speed broadband. I encourage people in the Oldtown area to make direct contact with Eir to find out the timetable for the roll-out over the next 77 weeks. Off the top of my head I do not know when the fibre will come to Oldtown during the 77 weeks. It does address the problem in that community and it is just one of the examples where the Eir commitment agreement is working; we are actually delivering fibre to the door of 300 farms every single week and we will continue that for the next 77 weeks. Once this is completed, I am determined to drive forward with the programme for the remaining 542,000 premises across rural Ireland to ensure that every single premises has access to high-speed broadband.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I am delighted that the Minister has replied in that regard because one of my constituents did contact Eir, as the Minister has suggested. The roll-out map stops 5 m from the entrance to his house. He offered to pay for the extra 5 m from the entrance to his house but was told there are no plans to extend the line and this was where it was going to stop. Effectively, he cannot work from home or live in that area. Living in a rural community now means that one must have access to high-speed broadband and he is not going to get it. He even offered to pay for the extra length and was told he would not be able to do that. As far as I know, Oldtown exchange is the only part of the greater Dublin area that does not have broadband. Eir seems to be putting the issue of cost in the way. To upscale the entire exchange would cost some €700,000 and that is not being envisaged in this plan. This means that around 170 houses in the area are excluded from this plan. Given that the area is in our capital city or on the periphery of it this seems absolute lunacy. What can be done for those residents to be included such as this man who is 5 m out? What would the remedy be for him and others like him?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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If the resident in question is in the light blue area of the map then he will get broadband as part of the commitment agreement. That is the agreement and I expect Eir to comply with that to the letter of the law. If it is outside the light blue area then it will have to wait for the next phase of the national broadband plan. In the interim, however, we are working with mobile operators and wireless broadband operators to facilitate them in rolling out their infrastructure. Currently the commercial companies are spending some €1.7 million every day. Imagine is rolling out a wireless network service. Eurona Ireland last week announced an upgrade in its network. I understand that there are many other wireless operators across the State that over the next period will be enhancing their services. On top of this we have released the 3.6 GHz spectrum, which will improve the data capacity of the mobile operators and allow for the expansion of wireless operators. There are opportunities there. Recently I also spoke with a satellite operator that is looking to come in to the State with very high speeds, well in excess of what would have been traditionally envisaged around satellite services. They are available. If the Deputy's constituent is in the light blue area and he puts in his Eircode postcode, and if the company now tells him it will not provide the service to him, I would appreciate the Deputy coming back to me on the matter.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I certainly will. If the commercial provider is not willing to connect all houses in the area then we have a problem. I will check the map and I will ask the resident to check the postcode. If it is on the periphery then what assurances can the Minister give? Does the Minister believe that a 5 m border is sufficient? The resident made an offer to be included at his own cost. Is this so bizarre if a premises is outside the light blue area? What other remedy could be found? If the alternative is that his premises goes into the amber area of the map and he must wait in the never-never land then I do not know what solution I can offer to him. I believe this matter relates to the fact that Oldtown exchange is the most archaic one in the county of Dublin. It probably needs special attention because there are a number of residents who are in the townland of Oldtown who will not be connected and who will not be provided for by Eir. We need to plug that gap and this is what I am trying to do.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The commitment agreement we have with Eir is that Eir must pass a home every minute of every working day for the next 77 weeks. That is a monumental task for the company and we have pushed it to the wire in that respect. I had looked at including in the contract intervention by individuals outside of this, but Eir was of the view that if this happened it would actually delay the roll-out. This is what we are tied into with Eir.

People look at this as an all-or-nothing situation. I am determined to make sure that people will have a long-term solution under the national broadband plan for every single premises in the intervention area. This does not mean that things are not happening at the moment. I urge people to go and look at the alternative options because there are options available. I was with a business last week in Deputy Eugene Murphy's constituency and they had the exact same argument; they are 500 yd. from the light blue area.

They had a wireless option, a mobile option and three fibre options at that site, but they did not realise it because they were looking at the Eir solution only. I encourage people to look at the other solutions that are available. Other operators and competitors are willing to provide services. I actively encourage people to consider them.