Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will advise on matters raised in correspondence (details supplied) regarding broadband in an area; his plans to supply a high-speed broadband service to this location in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55447/22]

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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Will the Minister advise on matters arising from correspondence, details of which I supplied to him, regarding broadband in an area and his plans to supply a high-speed broadband service to this location in County Louth?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I am advised by NBI that, as of 28 October 2022, over 97,000 premises can order or pre-order high-speed broadband connections. More than 87,700 premises have been passed and are ready for immediate connection. Construction is under way across 26 counties. This demonstrates that the project is reaching scale. NBI has advised that over 3,334 premises in County Louth are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection.

The area referred to in the question is covered by the Riverstown deployment area. NBI advises the survey is complete in this area and it is due to be connected between January and June of 2024. The network roll-out for the national broadband plan is divided into 227 deployment areas across the country. Each area is approximately 25 km in radius. In total, the areas involved cover 96% of Ireland's landmass. The architecture of the network design is specifically based on the design of the NBI network coming from the Eir exchanges or the metropolitan area networks. It is based on an engineering design that allows NBI to reach every premises as quickly as possible working within the confines of how fibre networks are built. Villages, townlands and counties may be covered by a number of deployment areas, which means there are differing time scales for the roll-out across county areas. As already indicated, BCPs are a key element of the national broadband plan. They provide high-speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre-to-the-home network. Some 778 BCP sites have been installed by NBI to date, including eight in County Louth. While well over 3,000 premises in Louth can already be connected to the national broadband plan network, the BCPs offer the opportunity to connect to a high-speed broadband service for those whom the network has not yet reached.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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I have correspondence which reads:

I am a resident of Ravensdale. Currently there is no wifi / broadband available in our area and myself along with other families and residents have very limited access to the internet. The main area of Ravensdale itself has a broadband supply, however once past the Carrickdale hotel (we are along Edentober) there is nothing available to us. I am self employed and run an online business. I have recently had to move into my parent’s house as we are trying to buy/ build our own house and I unfortunately can’t even run my business as I have no access to internet and will have to shortly close it down. Along with everyday needed use for all families, broadband has become a necessity, even for phone use as we also have very limited network coverage to use mobiles phones.

Can you please give me any help or advice on how I could move forward to get the process of broadband connected in our area or who to contact. I have spoken with most residents and they have all agreed they would help sign a petition or anything to collectively support trying to get broadband connection in Edentober, Ravensdale. On the National Rollout website it is scheduled for June 2024 which is just too far away.

Does the Minister of State think that what he said is going to help them? Nobody in rural Ireland should be left behind.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I hear the Deputy and have read that letter. I can see there is a personal story behind it of somebody who has moved home to their parents to save money for a house and then found they do not have the connection they need to run their business, and I understand that. It is not just to run a business because you need the Internet if you want to work from home, study from home or even just conduct your social life. It is absolutely essential. It is a utility. It is like providing water or electricity, so everybody needs to get it. We are in a roll-out period. Our plan is much more ambitious than those of other countries. I have talked to counterparts in other European countries and they are not providing fibre to every house.

People have options in every area and they must be investigated. The first question is whether there is somewhere nearby that has a broadband connection point. Is there somewhere like a GAA place that is offering a solution for somebody to come into the local village, sit down and get a desk for the day? If there is not, the Deputy can come to me and ask for a new BCP to be set up and we can investigate and look at that. The next question is whether there is fixed wireless access. There are fixed wireless access providers that put a mast on the roof and then the customer gets a connection. One can get an acceptable level of connection of something like 100 MB from those. A satellite connection can be used in most parts of Ireland and in many cases people can use 5G. Those are the correspondent's options as they wait the 16 months.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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The Minister of State's second answer was from the heart. He realises the problem we are having but this is not just one family as there are others. We are trying to encourage people to work from home, and that is what these people are trying to do. I agree with the Minister of State. The correspondent asked me to ask the question and the Minister of State has given me a few different solutions. As he knows, I am very involved with the GAA. There is a GAA club in the area and maybe that is another way of looking at this. However, these families are very frustrated. This has been going on for a long time. When they contacted the provider they were told the date was June 2024. It is not that they mind that date, it is just that they do not think it is actually going to happen. As I said to the Minister, people are struggling. The man to which I refer has a wife and kids, and it is not a nice situation to move in and live with your in-laws. There is also the pressure of running a business. I know how hard this is because I have had my own business for 25 years. The correspondent is running an online business and he depends so much on the broadband Internet connection. He is having problems with his Internet, the broadband and his phone. I appreciate the Minister of State's second reply and will bring it back to the correspondent.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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At this rate, NBI is passing by 5,000 homes every month. Next year, that will accelerate to 7,000 homes per month.

Approximately 100,000 Irish families in rural Ireland who had no decent broadband Internet access will have fibre broadband by the end of the year. The project is back on track after really being set back during the pandemic.

The Deputy said there is a sense from the people he represents that the roll-out is never going to happen. It certainly is going to happen. Rural Ireland will be 100% connected. Our target at the moment is to have 100% gigabit broadband provision throughout the whole of Ireland by 2028. At the rate we are going, we will have completed that provision in rural areas before we have done urban Ireland. The supplier, NBI, has proven its ability as this stage. It has learnt how to connect 100% of homes in each deployment area. Nobody will be left behind. The constituent to whom the Deputy referred and all the people in that area will be connected. I know it is difficult in the meantime but I ask him to investigate the alternatives while we are waiting.