Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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178. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the upgrade of the broadband network in Shrule, County Mayo, will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44229/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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In April I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available atwww.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.

The map shows that the townland of Shrule, Co Mayo comprises 101 premises and broadband coverage will be realised  through a mix of predominantly commercial investment and the State led Intervention under the NBP.  Of the 101 premises, 99 premises fall within areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering, or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services.  The remaining 2 premises will be part of the State led Intervention under the NBP. 

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 roll out 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 rollout 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.