Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding the provision of broadband services for rural areas in County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25730/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and since then has developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available on a county-by-county basis can be found on the Commission for Communications Regulation's (ComReg) website at www.callcosts.ie .

The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where operators have been unable to offer services on a commercial basis. In the case of one such intervention, namely the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), services are available since October 2010 from the NBS service provider, 3, to persons with a fixed residence or fixed business in each of the 1,028 Electoral Divisions (ED) designated to be covered under the Scheme. That includes 6 EDs in County Carlow, which I have listed in the table below.

The Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS) was launched last year in recognition of the fact that despite the widespread availability of broadband throughout Ireland, there still remained individual premises that were unable to receive broadband provision, due to technical difficulties such as line of sight issues. This Scheme, which is being rolled out this year, is aimed at making a basic broadband service available to those individual un-served premises in rural non-NBS areas who wish to avail of such services.

The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland will meet the EU Commission's Digital Agenda for Europe target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.

The Government accepts that the widespread availability of high speed broadband is a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. With basic broadband services now widely available across Ireland, the challenge is to accelerate the roll out of high speed services. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT), which I convened last summer, has had an important role to play in this regard.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the Taskforce report has now been published. The report notes that by 2015, over 50% of the population will have access to high speed broadband services with speeds in excess of 70 Mbps. The report also highlights areas where Government and industry can work together to facilitate the roll out of high speed services across Ireland, and particularly in areas where the case for commercial investment is marginal.

Following on the publication of the Taskforce report, I have also launched a 4 week consultation process which can be accessed at the following link; http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Communications/Communications+Policy/Report+of+the+Next+Generation+Broadband+Taskforce+and+Consultation.htm . Any submissions or observations can be made electronically to nextgenerationbroadband@dcenr.gov.ie or tweet to @BroadbandPlan12 by close of business on Thursday 31 May 2012. The purpose of this consultation is to provide further input to this important policy area. Thereafter, it is my intention to bring proposals to Government for a National Broadband Plan for Ireland. This plan will build on the recent excellent progress made and be informed by the findings of the Taskforce and subsequent consultation.