Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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2070. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll out of the broadband connection points; the number of publicly accessible broadband points that are now live by county; the number of these that are on offshore islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2621/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are among the first premises for delivery under the National Broadband Plan. They are publicly accessible sites that serve areas without reliable high-speed broadband, including isolated communities in rural areas and on many of our offshore islands. Sites are provided with a high-speed broadband connection which they make available for onsite community use, including for remote work and study.

The Nationwide BCP Network will include approximately 300 sites including 14 offshore islands. To date, 250 BCPs have been completed in total, 11 of these on islands.

It is estimated that the current build phase of the BCP network will be completed in 2022.  

Once this phase of the BCP project has finished, my Department will begin to scale up the numerous development activities that it began trialing in 2021. These pilot projects include supports for remote workers and students, a suite of digital skills training courses, arts and culture activities including musical instruction and access to national cultural resources, and a range of eHealth and telemedicine programmes.

I will be making available funding to all participating local authorities to support BCP development activities this year. This is in addition to significant awards made to BCPs for capital works and equipment purchases under the 2021 Connected Hubs Call which allocated almost €9M last year.

The locations of all planned and completed BCPs may be found at myconnectedcommunity.ie/