Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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789. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the context of the upcoming European Union Directive 2014/61/CE, if he will implement a compulsory registry of broadband assets and pricing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29599/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Directive 2014/61/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 May 2014 aims to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications network infrastructure by, among other things, requiring EU member states to withdraw any statutory measures which prohibit utility network operators from sharing network assets. There are no such statutory measures in place in Ireland. The Directive also requires other utility network operators to make network information available to public communications network operators, if requested, unless there are objective reasons not to.

The Directive does not impose any new or additional obligations on network operators to make such information available to public bodies or to place such information in the public domain.

As I set out in reply to Question No. 818 of 16 June 2016, my Department is compiling a register of owners of existing infrastructure that could be used to support the National Broadband Plan network roll-out, and publishing it on our website.