Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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467. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will examine the implementation of the national broadband plan in an area (details supplied) to ensure that an additional three homes are connected to the initial phase with the advancement of cabling totalling 150 metres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22086/18]

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. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband.  By 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention.

In April 2017 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 colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:

- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.

- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.

- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April 2017.

There are 11 premises in the townland of Back of the Hill, Longford. 6 (55%) falling within the AMBER area and will be served under the State led Intervention. 5 (45%) are LIGHT BLUE and fall to be served by eir's planned rural deployment. In the absence of specific eircodes for the three homes in question, it cannot be discerned which category these  premises are in.

However, Information regarding premises categories can be accessed on my Department’s website, www.broadband.gov.ie, by entering the relevant eircode into the High Speed Broadband Map.

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. That procurement process is now in its final stages.

In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at . A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie

A county by county breakdown of eir’s data for Q1 2018 will be available shortly on my Department’s website.

With regard to the matter of cabling raised by the Deputy, if these premises are in a LIGHT BLUE area, I have to advise that decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the rollout and siting of infrastructure to provide high speed broadband services throughout Ireland are undertaken on a commercial basis by competing service providers operating in a liberalised market. I have no statutory role or function to intervene in the commercial decisions of private operators, and therefore cannot direct operators regarding infrastructure installation or delivery of services.

I recognise the importance of availability of high speed connectivity for all premises in Ireland and fully appreciate the frustration for communities and businesses that do not currently have access to this level of connectivity.  Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises (including the six in the townland of Back of the Hill) that fall within the State led intervention area under the NBP remains a priority for me 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.