Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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213. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the fibre optic broadband system at a location (details supplied) can be extended due to poor broadband connectivity in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27161/18]

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, 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, available at , which shows those areas that will be served by commercial operators and those that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP.  This includes approximately 300,000 premises to be passed as part of eir's rural deployment of high speed broadband as part of the Commitment Agreement signed in April 2017

Both eircodes referenced by the Deputy fall within the townland of Ballybaun (Killiam By) in Co. Galway.  The townland comprises a total of 9 premises.  5 of these premises are in an AMBER area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, this includes the first of the eircodes referenced by the Deputy.  These premises will therefore be included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP.  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.

The remaining 4 premises, which includes the second referenced eircode (the commercial premises) referenced by the Deputy, are part of eir’s planned rural deployment and will receive high speed broadband under that commercial deployment.Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at .

Data for Q1 2018 recently verified by my Department indicates that the company has passed some 145,000 premises nationwide as part of its ongoing deployment. eir has signalled that there has been some knock-on effects to the delivery of the 2018 milestone targets due to the severe weather impacts of both storms Ophelia and Emma. I have met with the senior management in eir and expressed to them the importance of implementing measures to catch up with milestone targets as a priority.

With regard to the rollout of broadband infrastructure, 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.

For those premises currently awaiting access to high speed broadband, practical initiatives are being undertaken 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.

A list of Broadband Officers, is available on my Department's website at .