Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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824. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is aware of the concern of local residents and businesses in relation to the inadequate broadband telecommunications infrastructure in a town (details supplied) in County Cavan; when he will provide a modern and up-to-date broadband infrastructure to the residents of this town and its catchment area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7027/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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825. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is aware of the concern of local residents and businesses in relation to the inadequate broadband telecommunications infrastructure in a town (details supplied) in County Cavan, when he will provide a modern and up-to-date broadband infrastructure to the residents of this town and its catchment area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7028/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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826. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to provide modern broadband telecommunications infrastructure for all of County Cavan; the timescale for such developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7029/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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827. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to provide modern broadband telecommunications infrastructure for all of County Monaghan; the proposed timescale for such developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7030/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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828. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to improve broadband telecommunications service in an area (details supplied) in County Cavan; if he is aware that households and many small enterprises are very concerned about the totally inadequate current service; if he will undertake the necessary investment programme without further delay to bring this broadband service up to a proper standard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7031/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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829. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to improve broadband telecommunications services in an area (details supplied) in County Cavan; if he is aware that households and many small enterprises are very concerned about the totally inadequate service that exists; if he will undertake the necessary investment programme without further delay to bring this broadband service up to a proper standard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7032/16]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 824 to 829, inclusive, together.

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 is being achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.

The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services in the last four years, and is continuing to invest. These very significant investments represent a step change in the quality of broadband services available.

On 22 December 2015, I formally launched the procurement process for the State intervention to provide high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland that may not be served through commercial investment. The formal procurement process commenced with the publication of the Pre-qualification Questionnaire and Project Information Memorandum. Five responses were received from prospective bidders to this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March. The responses are now being assessed in line with criteria set down by the Department with a view to selecting qualified provider(s) to proceed to the next stage of the procurement. This second stage in the process will be a formal Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) to shortlisted  bidders.

The High Speed Broadband Map 2020, which is available at shows the extent of the State Intervention area. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. The area of Butlersbridge and Belturbet, Co. Cavan are in a BLUE area. Based on information provided by commercial operators, which may be subject to change, the roll out of high speed broadband services is planned for Butlersbridge in June 2016, and there are services already available in Belturbet town and from the Shercock exchange, with further upgrades expected in the next  3-6 months.The areas marked AMBER represent the target areas for the State Intervention. The Killinkere area is in the AMBER area and will be covered by the State Intervention. Consumers can see whether their individual premises is in the BLUE or AMBER area by entering their Eircode on the Map.

The County statistics for both Cavan and Monaghan are set out in the following table, which shows the percentage of premises that are expected to be covered by commercial investments, and the percentage that will be covered by the State Intervention.

The intention is to build out the network in the AMBER area as quickly as possible. The procurement process is underway and it is proposed to engage with the winning bidder(s) in due course 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.

Engagement with industry stakeholders as part of the pre-procurement consultations has indicated that the rollout in the Amber area 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 all premises in Ireland (both commercial and intervention area) will have access to high speed broadband within two years of the contract award, with 100% of premises connected within 5 years.

I welcome recent initiatives by Cavan County Council in particular to work with the Department and with telecommunications operators to facilitate the upgrade of services in the area. Local Authorities will continue to play a key role in the efficient rollout of infrastructure in their areas.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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830. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which high speed up-to-date broadband is available or likely to become available within a short timeframe in all areas of County Kildare; the exceptions to such plans; the degree to which negotiations are taking place with local communities or service providers with a view to maximising the efforts to provide high capacity and high speed broadband to all areas without exception, having particular regard to the latest available map indicating progress or objectives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7188/16]

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 is being achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services in the last four years, and is continuing to invest. These very significant investments represent a step change in the quality of broadband services available.

On 22 December 2015, I formally launched the procurement process for the State intervention to provide high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland that may not be served through commercial investment. The formal procurement process commenced with the publication of the Pre-qualification Questionnaire and Project Information Memorandum. Five responses were received from prospective bidders to this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March. The responses are now being assessed in line with criteria set down by the Department with a view to selecting qualified provider(s) to proceed to the next stage of the procurement. This second stage in  the process will be a formal Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) to shortlisted  bidders.

The High Speed Broadband Map 2020, which is available at shows the extent of the State Intervention area. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. The Map shows that 77% of premises in Kildare are in the BLUE area. The remaining 23% of premises in Kildare (20,536 premises) are in the AMBER area and it is intended that these will be served through the State intervention. Consumers can see whether their individual premises is in the BLUE or AMBER area by entering their Eircode on the Map.

The intention is to build out the network in the AMBER area as quickly as possible. The procurement process is underway and it is proposed to engage with the winning bidder(s) in due course 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 Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders and communities in developing the Intervention Strategy, conducting four formal consultations and over 100 meetings over the last 18 months in particular. Engagement with industry stakeholders as part of the pre-procurement consultations has indicated that the rollout in the Amber area 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 all premises in Ireland (both commercial and intervention area) will have access to high speed broadband within two years of the contract award, with 100% of premises connected within five years.

Local communities, and in particular, Local Authorities  have an important role to play in facilitating the efficient rollout of infrastructure in their areas. The Department encourages Local Authorities to engage proactively with commercial operators, and the Department has also made several presentations to Local Authorities in relation to the National Broadband Plan, including Kildare County Council.