Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 132: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the towns in Kildare which have access to broadband at present; the towns without broadband; the amount of funding being provided by the State to provide broadband in Kildare towns under MANs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21426/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter in the first instance for the private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the independent regulator.

My Department's website www.broadband.gov.ie lists all service providers offering broadband services in all towns in Kildare, and gives contact details for each company, together with prices for the various service levels on offer.

It has been clear for some time that the sector has failed to invest at the level necessary to keep pace with the demand for broadband, so my Department's regional broadband programme is addressing the infrastructure deficit by building high speed, open access broadband networks, in association with the local and regional authorities, in the major towns and cities. These Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) will allow the private sector to offer world-class broadband services at competitive costs.

Twenty-seven MANs are now completed and a further seven are nearing completion. The second phase of the programme involves the building of MANs in a further 94 towns with a population of 1,500 and above that do not have a satisfactory broadband offering from the private sector. Kildare is developing projects in respect of the following towns: Kildare, Newbridge, Rathangan, Sallins, Maynooth, Clane, Monasterevan, Kilcock and Prosperous at an estimated grant aid of €12.7 million. The route designs are currently being developed in conjunction with Kildare County Council. Construction on these projects is expected to commence in 2007.

For rural communities and the hinterlands of larger towns, my Department offers funding under the County and Group Broadband Scheme to enable these communities to become self-sufficient in broadband, in association with the service providers. To date schemes have being approved for the North, North East and South West regions of Kildare. These projects are currently being constructed by the service providers. Full details of the scheme, including application procedures, are available on the website www.gbs.gov.ie.