Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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46. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the national high-speed broadband scheme will be rolled out to the most isolated areas first, as they are the least likely ever to receive a commercial high-speed broadband service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44661/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.

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 the end of 2016. The areas marked AMBER represent the target areas for the proposed State intervention. The High Speed Map contains a breakdown of premises covered per townland.

Over 40 responses were received following the publication of the NBP proposed Intervention Strategy in July last. 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.

I expect to finalise the strategy and move to formal procurement phase before the end of the year.

The prospective bidder(s) are experts in network roll-out and each will offer different network architectures and technologies to deliver the network. It is proposed to engage with the winning bidder(s) on the optimum rollout strategy, and on the sequencing of the network deployment to maximise efficiencies during network build, having regard to business and consumer needs, and to areas of particularly poor service and areas of strong demand. All these factors will need to be balanced against the most efficient network rollout and will be agreed during the procurement process.

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 3-5 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 an ambition of 100% coverage by end of 2020.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the commitment to provide high-speed broadband to every house and business in County Donegal and the deadline for this; if the Government has failed the people of County Donegal, given that 52% of homes and businesses in the county do not have access to high-speed broadband after this Government's five years in office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44830/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Government's 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. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.

On 29 September last the Government approved an allocation of €275m for the National Broadband Plan, which will provide the initial stimulus required to deliver the Government's intervention. Combined with commercial investment, this will ensure that 85% of Ireland's premises have high speed broadband by 2018, with an ambition of 100% coverage by 2020.

The High Speed Broadband Map 2016, published on 24th November 2014 was developed by my Department to establish the National Broadband Plan (NBP) Intervention Areas. This Map shows where access to high speed broadband services provided on a commercial basis are expected to be in place by the end of 2016 and where the Government may intervene to enable access to high speed broadband.

I am informed by the commercial operators that next generation broadband services have been rolled out to 21,200 premises to date in Co Donegal with a further 27,200 expected to be served over the next 18 months. The remaining 52,000 premises in Co Donegal will be covered be the target for the proposed State intervention under the National Broadband Plan, subject to examination of any further commercial development plans in the area. The breakdown of premises covered, per townland, is available on the High Speed Broadband Map at

In July last, following intensive consultations, stakeholder engagement and detailed financial, strategy, economic, legal, technical analysis, I published the draft Intervention strategy and 7 accompanying expert reports. Over 40 responses were received following the publication of the NBP proposed Intervention Strategy. Non-confidential versions of these submissions have been published and can be accessed at

The planned period for the rollout of the State Intervention is 2016 to 2020 and the Department has revised the investment period under assessment to also include investments in the period 2016 – 2020.

Meanwhile, my Department continues to review the technical and financial detail relating to potential new commercial investment proposals. I expect to proceed to formal procurement before the end of the year.

This is a complex project and I have continually underlined the importance of a conclusive process that delivers for all citizens. This ambitious objective, combined with the need to adhere rigorously to EU State Aid and procurement law obligations, required intensive preparation, engagement with stakeholders and very detailed analysis.

Through the combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high speed services by 2018 with an ambition of 100% coverage by end of 2020.