Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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245. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 570 of 7 October 2014, the position regarding the provision and enabling of a fibre cable in an area (details supplied) in County Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42606/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The National Broadband Plan the Government aims to ensure that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses in Ireland, through a combination of commercial investment and a State-led intervention. Since the publication of the Plan, the commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5bn in network upgrades and at least 1.6m of the 2.3m addresses in Ireland are expected to have access to commercial high speed broadband services over the next number of years.

Under EU State Aid Guidelines Member States cannot intervene where commercial investors have plans to roll out services. A comprehensive mapping exercise is underway in my Department, to identify those areas that require a State intervention. An initial examination has already identified a significant number of areas throughout the country that will require State intervention. It includes 46 areas in Co Roscommon including Taghmcconnell.

As part of the mapping process, a stakeholder consultation was launched in June. 32 submissions have been received and non-commercially sensitive versions of these responses were published by my Department last month.

I expect to publish the map shortly. Those accessing this map will be able to identify their own house or premises and see whether it is in the proposed intervention footprint. Where a house or premises is not in the proposed intervention area it means it either currently, or will in the near future, have access to commercial high speed broadband services. The map will be subject to change as new information becomes available or commercial investments are announced in the future.

A further public consultation on a detailed intervention strategy will be launched in mid-2015. My Department is also working closely with the European Commission with a view to obtaining State Aid clearance for the programme.

A detailed procurement process will be undertaken in order to select a potential preferred bidder or bidders towards the end of 2015.

This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government. It aims to conclusively address current connectivity challenges in Ireland. Our goal is to ensure that quality broadband services are available to all citizens regardless of where they are located.