Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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52. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide an update on the roll out of the National Broadband Ireland service in Portmarnock, north Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9836/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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In December 2022, the Digital Connectivity Strategy of Ireland was published and set out a number of targets including that all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028.

The Programme for Government 2025 sets a number of targets which include the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including homes, farms, and businesses nationwide, by 2026.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland.

The Question refers to Portmarnock which is partially located in the AMBER area on the broadband map, which is available on my Department's website www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/. The AMBER area is to be served by the network deployed under the NBP State led intervention.

Commercial Fixed line operators Open Eir, Virgin Media and SIRO are delivering high-speed broadband services in the blue area/ non-intervention area of the map.

The latest information on when high-speed broadband will become available to the AMBER area can be found on National Broadband Ireland’s (NBI) website at nbi.ie/map/.

This website is regularly updated providing the expected timeline for delivery and status of any works that are initiated at any point in time. NBI also has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.

Portmarnock is included in the Donabate /Portrane Deployment Area.

NBI have advised my Department that they faced challenges in this specific DA, which affected the original anticipated connection timeframe. Under the National Broadband Plan (NBP), NBI is contractually obligated to re-use existing third-party infrastructure, such as poles and ducts.

During the Network Build Stage, the third party is responsible for clearing and replacing poles and clearing ducts to align to the agreed standards. Regrettably challenges have occurred during the completion of these works by the third party, which has significantly impacted NBI’s ability to proceed with the build in this DA.

NBI have advised my Department that the network build is currently in progress and the Portmarnock premises within the Intervention area have an anticipated connection timeframe of between October and December 2025. NBI will publish confirmation of timeframes to their website as they become available.