Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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198. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the way persons living in rural areas of County Meath will benefit from high speed broadband under the national broadband plan; the areas in County Meath by electoral division that will benefit under this scheme; and the timeframe for the delivery of high speed broadband for each of these area [43301/13]

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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200. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he will be in a position to supply high-speed broadband to an area (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if the existing service will be improved in the near future [43511/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Question Nos 198 and 200 together.

Ireland's telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since 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 in each County, including Counties Meath and Offaly, can be found on ComReg's website at .

The State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in areas where the competitive market fails to deliver such services, as in the case of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS). Broadband services under the NBS are available since October 2010 from the NBS service provider, “3”, to persons with a fixed residence or fixed business in the designated NBS Electoral Divisions. The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland has met the EU Commission's Digital Agenda for Europe target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.

The Government's National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses, including those in Counties Meath and Offaly. This will be achieved by providing; a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment; and a State-led investment for areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest.

Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and wireless high speed broadband services. In order to progress the State-led investment for areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest, a full procurement process must be designed and EU State Aids approval must be obtained.

My Department is engaged in a comprehensive mapping exercise of the current and anticipated investment by the commercial sector to identify where the market is expected to deliver high speed broadband services over the coming years. The results of this mapping exercise will inform the precise areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment as envisaged in the National Broadband Plan.

Intensive technical, financial and legal preparations, including stakeholder engagement, are ongoing. The procurement process for the approved intervention will be carried out in accordance with EU and Irish procurement rules and it is expected that it will be launched in 2014.

Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, I am committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland have access to high speed broadband, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in, and maximise the benefits of, a digitally enabled economy and society.