Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 18: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the steps he is taking to improve the capacity of broadband services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10362/09]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard the Department has undertaken a variety of initiatives to improve broadband coverage. These initiatives have helped to facilitate the development of the market to the point where over 60% of Irish households now have a broadband connection.

Additionally, ComReg's quarterly report for Q3 2008, states that 61.1% of those households have a connection in the speed category of 2Mbps — 10Mbps. Furthermore, at the end of Q1 2008, 83% of Irish SMEs had a broadband connection. Most of those SMEs, 72.6%, according to ComReg's report for Q3 2008, have a connection in the speed category of 2Mbps — 10Mbps.

There are still some parts of the country where the private sector cannot justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, the Department has undertaken to implement the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and has entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the NBS. 3 will be required to provide services to all residences and businesses that are within the NBS area and who seek a service. Services will begin to be rolled out in April 2009 and the entire NBS area will be served by September 2010.

The broadband market in Ireland is regulated by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). It is now a very competitive market with over 40 companies providing retail broadband services in Ireland. This is testament to the effectiveness of the regulatory model operated by ComReg.

The policy framework for future broadband development in Ireland is set out in the consultation paper on Next Generation Broadband, which the Minister published last July. The consultation period on the paper has concluded and the final policy paper will be published shortly. This will set out the role of the private sector in investment in next generation broadband and the role of the State in facilitating such investment.