Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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457. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if a school (details supplied) in County Meath will be included in the roll-out of broadband in the area. [43819/17]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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459. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when broadband will be available to residents in Balgeeth, Garristown, County Meath. [43935/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 457 and 459 together.

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 under the National Broadband Plan (NBP). 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.

Individuals can access the High Speed Broadband Map www.broadband.gov.ie using their eircode to ascertain the colour code (BLUE for commercial or AMBER for the State Led Intervention) status for their premises.

There are over 83,000 premises in County Meath, 64,000 of which fall within a BLUE area of the Map and will be covered by commercial operators. Of these 64,000, over 10,000 form part of eir's planned deployment to deliver rural high speed broadband to 300,000 premises between now and the end of 2018. The remaining 19,000 premises in County Meath fall within an AMBER area and will be part of the State led Intervention under the National Broadband Plan.

The position in relation to the particular Meath areas referred to by the Deputy is as follows:

- The map shows that the townland of Culmullin, Co. Meath comprises 31 premises and broadband coverage will be realised through a mix of commercial investment and through the State Intervention under the NBP. Of the 31 premises, 28 premises fall within the State Intervention area including Culmullin National School.  The remaining 3 premises are part of eir's planned rural deployment.

- The map shows that the townland of Balgeeth Co. Meath comprises 36 premises. Of the 36 premises, 25 premises fall within the State Intervention area. The remaining 11 premises are part of eir's planned rural deployment.

Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available from eir at . Individuals can access this website to determine the connectivity availability status for their premises using their eircode. The website also provides a list of retail service providers who offer services using high speed fibre network in the area.

With regard to the State led Intervention, my Department is engaged in an on-going procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll out a new high speed broadband network. A significant milestone in that procurement process was reached last month with the submission of "Detailed Solutions" by two bidders. This is the last stage of the procurement process before receipt of final tenders and ultimate progression to the appointment of a preferred bidder(s). My Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) on the best rollout strategy for the network build on conclusion of this process.

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, in July 2016, a Taskforce to identify solutions which can be implemented in the short, medium and long term to alleviate mobile phone and broadband coverage deficits, to identify priority areas for rollout and investigate how better services could be provided to consumers. These solutions will enhance the existing services prior to the full build and roll-out of the network planned under the NBP State led intervention.

Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency  in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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458. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when a location (details supplied) can expect to receive a broadband upgrade in view of the fact the current levels of broadband speed at this address are unsatisfactory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43853/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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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 and address.

- 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.

Individuals can access the High Speed Broadband Map www.broadband.gov.ie using their eircode to ascertain the colour code (BLUE for commercial or AMBER for the State Led Intervention) status for their premises.

The map shows that the Derrinturn, Co. Kildare is in a BLUE area, where commercial operators are currently delivering or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services. Where a citizen living in a Blue area is unable to obtain a high speed broadband service, I would encourage them to email my Department at broadband@dccae.gov.ie with their eircode and details of the service providers they have contacted.