Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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902. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25206/20]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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912. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points. [25127/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 902 and 912 together.

In November 2019, National Broadband Ireland was awarded the contract to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to almost 540,000 premises across the State, predominantly in rural areas. This project will be implemented on a rolling basis; however, the Broadband Connection Point (BCP) initiative is designed to bring a measure of connectivity to remote and isolated areas ahead of the completion of the National Broadband Plan roll out.

BCPs are typically publicly accessible buildings such as community centres, sports clubs and libraries. Approximately 300 BCPs will be provided with a wireless high speed broadband connection which will make free on-site internet connectivity available to the public.

To date, more than 140 BCPs across the country have been provided with an initial backhaul connection by National Broadband Ireland, including sites in Co. Cork. Vodafone, as the internet service provider, has also begun installing their public access equipment which will enable the BCPs to shortly “go live”.

BCP locations are listed by county on National Broadband Ireland’s website at . It should be noted that some BCP sites may change over time as commercial connectivity becomes more widespread or as the circumstances at each site change. In such cases, the BCP list will be updated accordingly.