Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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516. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress made to date in the tendering process for the national broadband scheme; the timeframe to sign contracts for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5887/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to 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. 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband. Within a year that number will rise to nearly 8 out of 10 premises and by 2020 9 out of 10 premises or 90% of premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. Having moved through the Pre-qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) stages that procurement process is now at an advanced stage. “Detailed Solutions” submitted by two bidders on 26th September 2017 have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature.

One bidder, eir, publicly withdrew from the procurement process on 30 January, citing "commercial, regulatory and governance issues". While this is regrettable, it is a commercial decision for eir to make.  The specialist NBP procurement team will continue to engage intensively with all relevant stakeholders, including the enet/sse consortium, to ensure the earliest possible achievement of the Government’s objective of providing reliable high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.

Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and this Government.

In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

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.