Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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426. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28790/18]

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 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 NBP. The Map is colour coded and searchable by address and 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 and available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie

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.  This process is now in its final stages.

For those premises currently awaiting access to high speed broadband, 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. The Department of Rural and Community Development maintain a list of Broadband Officers, a link to which is available on my Department's website at

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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427. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the rural broadband scheme will be extended to cover an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28797/18]

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 www.broadband.gov.ie, 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.

The Eircode referenced by the Deputy within the townland of Ballinamuddagh, Co. Westmeath is in an AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map.  This premises will therefore be included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP.  My Department is in the final stages of the procurement process to select a company who will rollout a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area.

The rollout of broadband infrastructure close to this premises is a commercial undertaking by eir. Decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the rollout and siting of high speed broadband infrastructure are taken 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 felt by people who do not currently have access to this level of connectivity.  Delivering connectivity under the NBP where commercial providers would not otherwise act remains a Government priority.

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

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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428. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the European Court of Auditors report and the fact that Ireland is unlikely to receive 100% coverage of fast broadband by 2020 (details supplied). [28813/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The 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.

My Department is in the final stages of the formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area.  

I welcome the recently published European Court of Auditor's (ECA) report on broadband in EU Member States and acknowledge the comments on Ireland's progress under the NBP. I also note that the referenced report acknowledges Ireland's overall improved performance in access to high speed broadband.  I further welcome the overall positive comments from the ECA regarding Ireland's progress towards achieving the ambition of the EU Digital Agenda for 2020 - "Connectivity for a Gigabit Society" and its observations that Ireland is in a good position to achieving this ambition upon implementation of the NBP.  A key element of the NBP is to build a future proofed network which will ultimately support future European connectivity goals, including the EU ambition that, by 2025:

- all schools, transport hubs and main providers of public services as well as digitally intensive enterprises should have access to internet connections with download/upload speeds of 1 Gigabit of data per second

- all European households, rural or urban, should have access to networks offering a download speed of at least 100 Mbps, which can be upgraded to 1 Gigabit

- all urban areas as well as major roads and railways should have uninterrupted 5G wireless broadband coverage.