Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the plans he intends to put in place to ensure that persons who have been discommoded since his decision to cut the rural broadband scheme will not be left without broadband until his Department has rolled out the national broadband scheme, which by his Department's own admission may not reach parts of the countryside until 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5338/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The National Broadband Scheme ("NBS") was designed to provide access to basic broadband in parts of rural Ireland where broadband services were deemed to be insufficient. Contrary to the assertion in the Deputy's Question, neither I nor the Government decided to cut or terminate the NBS.

In accordance with the EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme, the NBS contract was for a 68 month period and it expired in August 2014. The expiry of the NBS contract has not resulted in any switch-off of services and there are now commercial options, in terms of access to basic broadband, available to consumers in NBS areas.

The Government is now focused on the provision of high-speed broadband services in rural parts of the country where commercial operators are unlikely to invest due to poor commercial returns. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service.

The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades. Approximately 1.6 million of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland are expected to have access to commercial high speed broadband services over the next two years. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.

On 24 November last, a public consultation on a national high speed coverage map 2016 was launched. This consultation will close on the 12th February next. The map can be accessed at . The areas marked BLUE represent those areas that will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016. The AMBER areas show the target areas for the State intervention.

The map allows all members of the public, be they business or residential, to see whether their premises or home will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. It also provides detailed information on over 50,000 townlands throughout the entire country.

It is anticipated that speeds of at least 30Mbps will be also delivered through the Government's intervention and the network will be designed to cater for future increased demand from consumers and business.

In tandem with the mapping consultation, intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy. The strategy will address a range of issues in relation to the intervention including the optimum procurement model, ownership model for the infrastructure, intervention cost and likely market impact.

Following the public consultation, towards the end of this year a detailed procurement process will be undertaken in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders. The Department will design a tender in a way that maximises efficiencies and keeps the cost of the network build as low as possible. I anticipate that the first homes and businesses will be connected in 2016 and connections will continue thereafter, with the intention of having all premises connected within a 5 year period.

This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government. It aims to conclusively address current connectivity challenges in Ireland.