Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Question 345: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the poor level of broadband connectivity in an area (details supplied) in County Kilkenny and the adverse effects the lack of service has on local business; his position on developing such broadband services following a commitment to work with a range of telecom companies to ensure a nationwide roll out of fast broadband services over the next three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30746/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and 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, including county Kilkenny, 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.

Prior to the roll-out of this scheme, my Department had a comprehensive mapping exercise carried out to establish which parts of the country, by virtue of the existing and planned investment by commercial operators, could be deemed to be served and those that could be categorised as un-served and consequently required a State-led market intervention.

That exercise established that the area of Castlecomer was already served by at least one commercial operator and consequently the area was excluded from the NBS.

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.

With basic broadband services available throughout Ireland, the challenge now is to accelerate the roll out of high speed services. This Government accepts that the widespread availability of such speeds is required to deliver future economic and social development.

Following the recent publication of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT), and a short public consultation on its findings and recommendations, I will be bringing proposals for a National Broadband Plan to Government shortly with a view to agreeing a comprehensive set of policy actions to underpin the provision of high speed broadband services on a national basis.