Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide an update on his plans for the inclusion of Labasheeda, County Clare, in the roll-out of the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55870/22]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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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 over 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools. I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 28 October 2022, construction is complete or underway across 26 counties demonstrating that the project is reaching scale. Over 97,000 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed fibre broadband connection across 25 counties, with over 87,700 premises passed across 25 counties and available for immediate connection. To date, the level of connections is increasing on a daily basis and is in line with projections with some areas exceeding expectations. Labasheeda, Co Clare is included in the rollout of the National Broadband Plan.  NBI has advised that as of 28 October, 1,726 premises in Co Clare are passed with a highspeed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection. 

The network rollout for the NBP 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 metropolitan area networks (MANs). It is based on an engineering design that allows NBI to reach every premises as quickly as possible working within the confines of how fibre networks are built. Villages, townlands and counties may be covered by a number of DAs which means there are differing timescales for the rollout across county areas.

Further details are available on specific areas throughout the country 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.

NBI has made recent improvements to their website to enhance the provision of information to Oireachtas members. NBI has now completed a suite of changes, creating a portal that will serve as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) in all 26 counties. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: www.nbi.ie/reps

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. Some 778 BCP sites have been installed by NBI to date 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. In County Clare 7 BCP’s have been installed by NBI to date.  Further details can be found at nbi.ie/broadband-connection-points/.

In County Clare 26 schools have been installed by NBI to date 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. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/