Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

213. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the projected percentage of homes in the National Broadband Plan intervention areas that will be connected to fibre broadband under the plan in each county in each of the years 2021 to 2025, in tabular form. [45989/21]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

215. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the projected percentage of homes in the National Broadband Plan interventions areas that will be connected to fibre broadband under the plan in each county in each of the years 2021 to 2025, in tabular form. [46018/21]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 215 together. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along some 699 schools. The NBP roll out is currently a 7 year plan under the contract and deployment is due to be complete by the end of 2026.

I am advised by NBI that, as of 17 September, over 250,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed with over 108,000 premises under construction in Counties Cork, Cavan, Galway, Limerick and Monaghan.

In addition to the challenges to the delivery of the NBP due to the Covid-19 pandemic, NBI has faced a range of other challenges due to the sheer scale and complexity of rolling out fibre to the home in a rural environment. These include significant tree trimming to ensure cable can be placed on overhead poles, remediation of ducting that has been in place for many decades, the co-ordination of hundreds of contracting crews and addressing the many issues arising week on week which could not have been foreseen until the build crews commenced work on the ground. My Department has worked closely with NBI to put in place a remedial plan under the Contract. This plan addresses delays experienced by NBI, primarily arising as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and re-baselines milestones for 2021. Work is underway to re-baseline milestones for 2022 and beyond.

The network rollout for the National Broadband Plan is divided into 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) across the country. These are typically an area of approximately 25km in radius and in total they cover 96% of Ireland’s landmass. The architecture of the network design is specifically based on the design of the NBI network coming from the eir exchanges or the state owned metropolitan area networks (MANs). It is based on an engineering design that allows NBI to get to every premises as quickly as possible working within the confines of how fibre networks are built. Given the nature of the build and ongoing work to address the impact of Covid-19 related delays, it is not possible to give specific details on a per county basis out to 2026. NBI has indicated that c. 130,000 to 145,000 premises will be passed across all counties over 2021 and 2022.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

214. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason for the delay in providing a broadband connection point under the National Broadband Plan to a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46013/21]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. My Department has now prioritised primary schools with no high speed broadband and continues to work with the Department of Education in this regard. An acceleration of this aspect of the National Broadband Plan will see some 677 primary schools connected to high speed broadband by the end of 2022, well ahead of the original target delivery timeframe of 2026. It is expected that well in excess of 200 will be installed by the end of this year.

I can confirm that Leckaun National School is a priority school as part of this initiative and will be provided with a wireless solution by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) in the next few months.

While the dates referenced by the Deputy were sourced from the NBI website, I understand that the dates relates to the wider network deployment in the area in which the school is located and does not reflect the schools acceleration programme which will see this school connected within a matter of months. My Department has asked NBI to update their website to show that individual schools are being prioritised for early connection through these wireless solutions.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

216. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high quality access to broadband will be provided in the case of a person (details supplied); if there is a proposed timeframe for providing broadband to this location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46129/21]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Question refers to a premises located in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led intervention.

I appreciate people's frustration when they are living so close to a fibre network but cannot get a connection to that network, particularly given the heightened importance of connectivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. The NBP will ensure that in all such cases a future proofed high speed broadband network will be built to serve these premises and work to deliver on this is underway.

I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 17September, over 257,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed. Surveys are complete or underway in County Kildare in Killashee, Oughterard, Naas Rural, Rathmore, Kill, Kilteel, Carnalway, Gilltown, Ballymore Eustace, Bodenstown, Naas Urban, Newtown, Donaghcumper, Athy, Coneyboro, Aughaboura, Ballinapark, Castlemitchell, Bert, Kilberry, Kilkea, Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth. Areas which are close to the Wicklow border have commenced build works as part of the Blessington Deployment Area.

Further details are available on specific areas within County Kildare through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie. Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 17 September, 373 BCP sites have been installed by NBI and the high speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs. BCP’s are connected at Crookstown Further Education and Training and Community Centre, Bigstone Community Hall, and Lullymore Heritage Park. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.

Saint David's National School, Piper's Hill Campus, and Rathmore National School have been installed by NBI for educational access. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area, for connection over the term of the NBP. In this regard, an acceleration of this aspect of the National Broadband Plan was announced in December which will see some 679 primary schools connected to high speed broadband by 2022, well ahead of the original target delivery timeframe of 2026. Further details are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.