Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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402. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the issues being faced by a business (detail supplied) due to the lack of broadband will be reviewed; the status of the roll-out of e-fibre in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38362/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The premises referred to by the Deputy is in the AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at and is therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (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, and is now evaluating the Final Tender submission received from the bidding consortium on 18 September 2018. This is a significant milestone as the NBP procurement process enters its final stage.

Although it seems that there is coverage within a short range of the address referenced, the coverage in question is provided by a commercial operator in the market and the referenced address has not been included on that company's deployment plan. Decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the roll out and siting of their infrastructure to provide high-speed broadband services throughout Ireland are matter for each telecommunication operator. I have no statutory role or function to intervene in the commercial decisions of private operators.

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

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