Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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444. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if nine houses at Woodpark, Ballyboughal have been left out of the broadband roll-out scheme; and his plans to include them in the scheme to provide access to high speed broadband. [40159/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) will ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector so that to date approximately 1.5m or 65% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband and this footprint is expanding.

In April I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area. The Map is searchable by eircode. 

- The BLUE areas on the Map represent those areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering, or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services, 

- The AMBER areas on the Map represent the areas that will require State Intervention and are the subject of a procurement process.

The map shows that 100% of the townland of Woodpark, Co Dublin is within the AMBER area and will be covered by the State intervention under the NBP.  The eircode of the premise will indicate whether the premise will be covered commercially or be part of the State led Intervention. Individuals can access the High Speed Broadband Map www.broadband.gov.ieusing their eircode to ascertain the colour code (BLUE or AMBER) status for their premise.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage, with “Detailed Solutions” to be submitted to my Department by bidders today 26th September.  

To improve both mobile and broadband services in rural Ireland in advance of the rollout of the high speed broadband network to be built in the State intervention area, I established a Taskforce to identify immediate solutions to mobile phone and broadband coverage deficits and investigate how better services could be provided to consumers. These solutions will enhance the existing services prior to the full build and rollout of the network planned under the National Broadband Plan State intervention.