Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding broadband (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28074/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The provision of broadband services here is, in the first instance, a matter for private sector service providers operating in Ireland's fully liberalised telecommunications market. Broadband services are provided by private service providers over various platforms including DSL (i.e. over telephone lines), fixed wireless, mobile, cable, fibre and satellite. In cases of market failure the Government will intervene, where it is appropriate and possible to do so. The Group Broadband Scheme, National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and Rural Broadband Scheme are all examples of where Government has intervened to ensure broadband availability in areas, particularly rural ones, where commercial investors have failed to provide services.

Accordingly, between the significant private and public sector investments over recent years all areas of the country now have access to at least a basic broadband service. In addition to the NBS, the Rural Broadband Scheme, which recently closed for applications, aims to identify the remaining individual premises in rural Ireland, outside the NBS areas that are unable to obtain a broadband service and to provide a basic broadband to those premises, where requested. Almost 5,000 applications have been received under the Scheme and work is continuing on the processing of approximately 1,200 of these applications where address details need to be clarified. A total of 237 applications have been received from County Kerry – this number is provisional and may change once all addresses have been clarified.

The challenge now is to accelerate the delivery of next generation broadband. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT), which I chair, aims to assist in developing a roadmap for the delivery of such services across Ireland. The Taskforce, and four Working Groups reporting to it, are considering issues such as appropriate targets, private sector investment plans, and the role of Government in driving and facilitating investment. The Taskforce met recently and will meet again in December. In the interim, the four working groups will continue their work. I expect that the Taskforce will help to identify the optimal policy to deliver wider customer access to high-speed broadband generally and thereby assist in delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government.