Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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601. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will confirm that parts of north County Louth (details supplied) may not have broadband provision until 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40651/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is a Government initiative which aims to deliver high speed broadband to every citizen and business in Ireland. This is being achieved through a combination of accelerated commercial investment by telecoms operators, and a proposed State intervention to provide high speed broadband to those parts of the country where the commercial sector will not invest.

The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services. 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 and was developed based on the most up to date information available at the time of publication.

The areas marked blue represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services by end 2016. The areas marked amber represent those areas where the State intends to intervene to ensure those areas will have access to high speed broadband services.

Based on information provided by commercial operators, Hackballs Cross will be covered by the commercial sector. Where parts of Hackballs Cross or its environs are not covered by commercial high speed services these will be the target of 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 the end of 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention.

I would encourage consumers to consult the websites of the various commercial operators to ascertain details of current and planned future deployment plans.

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

I can confirm that next generation broadband services have been rolled out to over 43,900 premises to date in County Louth with a further 1,000 expected to be served by commercial investment. The remaining 15,000 premises in County Louth will be covered by further commercial investment or be the target for the proposed State intervention under the National Broadband Plan.

41 responses were received following the publication of the NBP proposed Intervention Strategy in July 2015. Non-confidential versions of these submissions have been published and can be accessed at .

Meanwhile, my Department continues to review the technical and financial detail relating to potential new commercial investment proposals with a view to updating the intervention area Map. I expect to publish an updated version of the Map and to proceed to formal procurement before the end of the year.

The Government is determined to ensure that the network is built out as quickly as possible and engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated that this could be achieved within 3 to 5 years of the contract award.

In this context, the NBP proposes that through the combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high speed services by 2018, with all addresses passed by 2020.