Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent)
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226. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding the current levels of broadband in Baltinglass, Blessington and Dunlavin in County Wicklow and in Naas and Athy in County Kildare; the proposed upgrades for these areas; the proposed timeframe for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26709/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The National Broadband Plan is delivering high speed broadband to every home and business in Ireland regardless of its location. This is being achieved through a partnership between Government and commercial telecommunications companies.

The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.

Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. This map is available at . The map shows Ireland with two colours, BLUE and AMBER.

The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers plan to deliver high speed broadband services. The AMBER area on the map shows the target areas for the State intervention. All premises within the AMBER areas will be included in the State's intervention.

Based on information provided by commercial operators 94% of Baltinglass West, 100% Baltinglass East, 100% Blessington, 96% Dunlavin Upper, and 58% Dunlavin Lower Co Wicklow, 100% Athy, 100% Naas West and 100% Naas East Co Kildare will be covered by the commercial sector. The remaining 6% of Baltinglass West, 4% Dunlavin Upper and 42% Dunlavin Lower will be part of the State intervention.

Members of the public should consult the map to establish for themselves the precise location and status of their individual premises.

More generally I can confirm that next generation broadband services have been rolled out to 33,686 premises to date in Co Wicklow and 55,272 premises in Co Kildare, with a further 12,564 in Co Wicklow and 12,516 in Co Kildare expected to be served. The remaining 16,574 premises in Co Wicklow and 20,536 in Co Kildare will be covered by either commercial investment or through the proposed State intervention under the National Broadband Plan.

Intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the AMBER area. Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy this summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders.

I expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016, and it will take 3-5 years to fully complete – depending on the details of the bid or bids selected.

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