Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the roll-out of broadband to all schools has been completed; if not, the timeframe for all schools to be included; the percentage that have access to high speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49798/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Through the Schools Broadband Access Programme the Department provides for the supply of internet connectivity for all recognised primary and post primary schools, and some 98% of schools are included in this scheme.  All post-primary schools and some special schools are now included in the 100Mbps programme.

The policy of this Department is to offer the best quality connectivity to all schools in line with the technical solutions available in the market and financial constraints.  Broadband capacity can vary due to geographical location and local infrastructure, and thus impact on the service that can be provided.

Under the current primary schools programme the Department continually reviews the availability of services and upgrades schools where the opportunity arises, in line with contractual and budgetary requirements. A recent drawdown from the Framework of Providers of Broadband Services saw some 1,100 primary schools awarded download speeds of 30Mbps or greater (the baseline download speed required under the National Broadband Plan). Some 1,000 of those schools have now been connected with the balance to be in place by the end of 2017. This represents circa one third of all primary schools. This is a significant improvement over recent years, given that less than 100 primary schools were on those speeds in 2012.

The need to improve broadband connectivity to primary schools is recognised in the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020, and as noted access to high speed broadband is one of the indicators identified in the Digital Strategy Action Plan. An interdepartmental working group has been established to determine how best to address broadband connectivity to primary schools in collaboration with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in the context of the National Broadband Plan and the Intervention Strategy, and proposed industry provision.