Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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50. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce will meet; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60471/21]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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By the end of next year, 75,000 fewer homes will have access to high-speed broadband than had been planned just two years ago under the national broadband plan. The build of that plan is a full 12 months behind schedule after only two years of the project. This will have a significant impact on the uptake of remote working across the country. This includes public sector workers, for whom the Government has set a target of having 20% working remotely by the end of the year.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I will the answer the question I have here which was on the mobile phone and broadband task force. The issue the Deputy referred is probably more suitable to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Wait for the supplementaries, Minister.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I understand the Deputy's interest in the task force and the fact it should be reconvened because we worked together on it when it was first established and we achieved much. That task force addressed 70 actions between 2016 and 2019. These spanned a mix of practical and policy approaches that have removed significant barriers to the deployment of telecoms services in the State. The previous task force clearly delivered real benefits and impact. There is now more information available to consumers to help them to choose the right service to meet their needs. More people have access to reliable, high-speed broadband than ever before and throughout the country mobile phone coverage has improved dramatically.

Building on this changed context, the new task force will concentrate on a number of strategically important and complex issues and will leverage the proactive, practical and co-operative approach taken by its predecessor. We will make use of the expertise and resources available to us to build on past successes. It is intended to convene a meeting of the new task force at the earliest possible date. Together with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, I have written to the key stakeholders who will make up the new task force in order to arrange an initial meeting. To ensure that the new task force has clear momentum from the start, I have also asked the stakeholders to consider a number of strategically important thematic areas that will underpin a detailed work programme. Building on the successful collaborative model of the previous task force, this work programme will be finalised on foot of this consultation. It is intended that the new task force's work programme will include actions to address issues such as outdoor mobile coverage, planning and licensing issues, asset mapping and access to infrastructure. I look forward to convening the first meeting of the new task force shortly.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. I welcome the fact this task force is being re-established. I am deeply disappointed it did not sit for the two years since the signing of the national broadband plan contract. In that time we have seen ongoing delays in engaging with local authorities, CIÉ and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. These are all problems the contractor has had with getting access to infrastructure. Does the Minister not agree that if the task force had not been put in abeyance and had been actively engaging with those bodies over the last two years we would not now be 12 months behind schedule and would not have 75,000 families who will not get their broadband on time?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, part of the work of the task force was to appoint broadband officers in every single local authority in the country. They were in contact with the service providers and there was much good work done on the ground. As I said, 70 actions were completed. That collaboration still takes place today.

The last task force completed its work programme at the end of 2019. At that stage plans for a reformatted task force were well advanced but were very much of their time. Since then a new Government has been formed, the national broadband roll-out has started, Covid-19 has arrived and the priorities of all involved in the telecoms sector have quite rightly changed. As important as the strategic work of the task force has been and will be, the focus of the Government and the telecoms sector has had to pivot dramatically in the last two years to provide immediate solutions to the challenges that face us all. Task force members were at the centre of those immediate solutions and made excellent use of the lines of communication established by the task force. They continue to use those and to apply the proactive and collaborative approach.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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When it was formed, the Government made it quite clear that one of its priorities was to fast-track the national broadband plan. Surely, one of the first things that should have been done was to re-establish the task force rather than considering it 18 months down the road.

I have a suggestion for the Minister for inclusion on the work programme. As she knows, as National Broadband Ireland delivers fibre broadband to homes, families will come off wireless services. That will provide an opportunity to improve the quality of wireless services to families who are further from the deployment areas. There is a problem with the physical coverage of those wireless services. There is an opportunity to improve coverage if local authorities and State agencies provide sites to these wireless operators, but it is key those sites are provided free of charge. We are talking about services that will have a very short lifespan. It is important that, first, local authorities provide the sites and, second, they do not look at this as a cash cow but as a way of facilitating delivery of wireless services pending the completion of the fibre build.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I will outline the specific actions that will be discussed and agreed with members before we publish our work programme for the task force for 2022 to 2024. The following broad areas are within the scope of discussion: permits, consents and planning permission, mapping and register of assets, geographic mobile coverage, consumer information and innovation, and proof of concept projects.

Working with the broadband officers' role, which was something the original task force outlined, my Department has provided more than €6 million to local authorities to support the continued employment of 31 broadband officers. Since then, they have repeatedly proved the value of their appointments and have been the driving force behind a number of projects and initiatives, including supporting broadband connection points, which have been invaluable in areas where there is poor broadband.