Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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40. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is satisfied that the targets to provide universal broadband in rural County Meath are sufficient; if his attention has been drawn to the deep dissatisfaction regarding broadband provision in that area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31837/16]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to improve broadband services in rural parts of County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31836/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 43 together.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority.  This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. 

The procurement process aims to identify an entity or entities to build, rollout, operate and deliver high speed broadband of at least 30 Megabits per second upload and 6 Megabits per second download speeds to all premises within the intervention area. The three bidders in the procurement process have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution for rural Ireland under the National Broadband plan intervention. Householders and businesses may avail of speeds not just of 30 Megabits per second but potentially 1000 Megabits per second, with businesses potentially availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a solution that will endure for 25 years and beyond.  

The High Speed Broadband Map, 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 previously indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services. 

- The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention which are the subject of the current procurement process.

The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including Co Meath.  Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode. The Department also has a dedicated mailbox and anyone with a query in relation to the Map should email the Department, quoting their Eircode, to 

Over 750,000 premises are currently within the State intervention area. This includes over 31,000 premises in County Meath.

The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network to over 750,000 premises in Ireland, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.

My Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms service, including parts of Co. Meath. These investments will further improve the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country.

In line with commitments in the Programme for Government I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Humphreys in July 2016. The Taskforce will recommend practical actions that can be taken in the short-term to improve mobile phone and broadband access in Ireland, working with Government Departments, Local Authorities, ComReg, State Agencies, the telecoms industry and other key stakeholders. The work of the taskforce will also assist Local Authorities in preparing for the rollout of the new NBP network once contract(s) are in place. I expect that Minister Humphreys and I will bring proposals to Government by the end of 2016, on foot of the Taskforce's report.

I am satisfied that the combination of initiatives to improve wireless services, and the procurement process to deliver a new high speed broadband network under the NBP will put Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity, and ensure that high speed broadband services are universally available across the country, including County Meath.