Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for standing in for the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, whom I understand is isolating, and rightly so.

I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could provide an update on the national broadband plan. In response to my Question No. 781 of 16 June 2020 the Minister, Deputy Ryan, said that 115,000 rural premises would be connected by the end of this year, with 70,000 to 100,000 per year connected the following year. Can the Minister of State confirm that a contract has been signed at this stage and that activities are under way?

I raise this issue because in the same response the Minister said that 300 broadband connection points, BCPs, will be prioritised for connection this year, that work was under way and that all remaining connections would be made by the end of the year. I understand locations are colour coded but I do not think we have used a strategic approach in our colour coding. I will give three examples of this in regard to my own constituency.

First, in Ballyshannon, south Donegal, which is one of the oldest towns in Ireland and has had a very difficult time in terms of unemployment, factory closures, shop closures and so on down through the years, there are two industrial estates, the Cornhill Business Park and the Erne Business Park, comprising 18 offices and 12 commercial units and from which Eircom services are just 300 m. Surely, the blue colour coding should be applied to this area and it should be done as a BCP before the end of the year. This could help build employment and assist in remote working in this time of Covid.

Second, Four Masters national school in Kinlough, north County Leitrim, which is not too far from the aforementioned place, caters for 300 pupils. Again, there is high-speed broadband a matter of metres away from it. Could the colour coding not be changed from amber to blue to ensure it is one of the BCPs, and thus the children in that school can benefit from it?

Third, in Strandhill village in County Sligo, where I live, along the entire seafront, there are many businesses that have no broadband coverage while the industrial estate near the airport and much of the village has high-speed broadband. Again, there is only a couple of hundred metres involved.

Surely, these three locations, one in Donegal, one in north Leitrim and one in Sligo - I am sure there are others throughout my own constituency and nationally - from a strategic point of view and for a relatively small cost should be included as broadband connection points and given the connectivity they deserve before the end of this year. This cannot cost a huge amount.

I understand that if contracts are signed the national broadband plan proper will not get under way until January but I stand to be corrected in that regard. In any event, we need to be strategic in regard to services which are only metres away from so many businesses, schools and premises that could facilitate employment in what is a very uncertain period ahead for many areas that are suffering greatly. My request is in regard to the Cornhill Business Park in Ballyshannon, the Erne Business Park in Ballyshannon, the Four Masters national school in north Leitrim - the Lurganboy community has been similarly ignored - and the proportion of Strandhill village where many business premises, despite the existence of high-speed broadband in the village, are not connected even though they are located only a couple of hundred metres from the village. With strategic focus we could make very fast progress under the BCP delivery project while the national broadband plan continues over the next number of years.

I ask the Minister of State to raise with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Department the possibility of the colour coding being changed to facilitate the delivery of services in these areas under the BCP project which is to be completed by the end of this year, as mentioned by the Minister in the response to Question No. 781 of 16 June last. This would not involve a great deal of work or expense but the upside would be huge in terms of employment creation.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

The national broadband plan, NBP, contract was signed with National Broadband Ireland, NBI, in November 2019 to roll out a high-speed and future-proofed broadband network within the intervention area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in nearly 540,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms and 695 schools. The national broadband plan will ensure that citizens throughout the entire country have access to high-speed broadband services and that nobody is left without this vital service. The NBP network will offer users a high-speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500 Mbps from the outset. I should point out that this represents an increase from the 150 Mbps committed to under the contract. The current deployment plan forecasts premises passed in all counties within the first two years and over 90% of premises in the State having access to high-speed broadband within the next four years. NBI has made steady progress to date, with design work complete or ongoing in target townlands across 20 counties, including Leitrim, with over 91,000 premises surveyed to date. This survey work is feeding into detailed designs for each deployment area. Laying fibre should start shortly, with the first fibre-to-home connection expected around December 2020 in Carrigaline, County Cork. NBI provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register an interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website, www.nbi.ie.

Broadband connection points, BCPs, are a key element of the NBP, providing high-speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll-out of the fibre-to-home network. Approximately 300 sites in rural areas were identified for connection by the end of 2020, including 75 schools. Over 100 broadband connection point sites have been installed by NBI and the high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly available sites and by the Department of Education and Skills for schools. Four schools and four BCPs within the areas referred to by the Deputy have been installed by NBI to date, with a further two BCPs scheduled to be installed in September followed by another eight by the end of the year. I understand that the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment continues to work with the Department of Education and Skills to prioritise the remaining schools to be connected over the term of the NBP. While substantial progress has been made to date, the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on the delivery of the fibre network. The extent of this impact is currently being assessed and NBI has committed to put in place measures to mitigate the impact as far as possible. The Covid-19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of good reliable broadband to ensure citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities.

This is reflected in the commitments in the programme for Government where the delivery of the national broadband plan will be a key enabler to many of the policies envisaged, particularly around increased levels of remote working.

The programme for Government commits to seeking the accelerated roll-out of the national broadband plan and in this regard my Department continues to engage with National Broadband Ireland, NBI, to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this roll-out to establish the possibility of bringing forward premises currently scheduled in years six and seven of the current plan to an earlier date. Exploring the potential to accelerate the network roll-out is being undertaken in parallel with the measures required to mitigate delays arising as a result of Covid-19.

Bringing connectivity to rural Ireland is central to promoting regional development and the broadband connection points are an important part of that process.

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I appreciate this is not her direct area of concern but I mentioned specific areas in my earlier contribution. They include Cornhill Business Park and Mr. Philip Rooney, who asked me to raise this matter. They also take in Mr. William Doogan of MCM Spirits and Liquers at Erneside Business Park. Councillor Justin Warnock raised the issue of the Four Masters national school in Kinlough and the Strandhill community development association at Strandhill.

I would like a specific answer on the areas and I am sure officials can go back on the record to note the locations. I ask that these areas be included in the broadband connection points delivery project that would see connectivity this year. The thought of being in years two, three, four, five, six or seven will undermine the potential of these areas to deliver for their communities. The potential is there, there is expertise in local communities and there is willingness and determination to do it. We need to provide these people with the tools they require. There is the potential to do that this year with the broadband connection points project so I formally ask that the Minister of State arrange for the Department to reply to me specifically on those areas. In other words, the colour-coding on the website map referred to by the Minister of State should be changed from amber to blue. This would see the areas prioritised, which would be of great benefit to these communities.

I appreciate the national broadband plan is being implemented. Many of us had difficulties with how the contract was put together as well as its inordinate cost. It is what it is. It is now signed and we all look forward to having these 537,000 premises connected. Naturally, as one of only four Deputies in the House to represent not just two counties but part of two other counties, I am in part of the country in the north west that is on the periphery of the periphery. The area has been undermined by generations of neglect by Governments of all parties and none.

There is now an opportunity and I ask the Minister of State to use her good offices to influence the officials in the Department dealing with communications to respond specifically about the areas I mentioned being included in the broadband connection points delivery project before the end of the year.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I will pass on those questions to the Minister, Deputy Ryan. We all understand the importance of the roll-out of broadband throughout the country and I understand the Deputy's frustration. We have all felt similar frustration in our constituencies over the years and we know this Government knows the importance of rolling out the broadband plan.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of good and reliable broadband to ensure citizens right across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities. This 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 broadband plan will ensure citizens throughout the entire country will have access to a high-speed broadband service and nobody will be left without such a vital service.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, NBI continues to steadily progress its deployment activities and the current deployment plan forecasts premises passed in all counties within the first two years and more than 90% of premises in the State having access to high-speed broadband within the next four years. As I mentioned, more than 91,000 premises across 20 counties, including Leitrim, have been surveyed to date. Additionally, four school broadband connection points within the area have been installed, with a further two broadband connection points scheduled for installation in September, followed by another eight by year-end.

The Government has committed to seeking to accelerate the roll-out of the national broadband plan. In this regard, the Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this roll-out and establishing the possibility of bringing forward premises currently scheduled for years six and seven to an earlier date. This process of exploring the potential to accelerate roll-out of the network is being undertaken in parallel with measures required to mitigate delays resulting from Covid-19.