Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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480. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider reviewing the eligibility criteria for the National Broadband Plan intervention area in light of ongoing broadband access issues in urban areas, where only a single provider offers broadband above the 30Mbps threshold, effectively limiting competition; if he will examine the impact of this lack of competition on affordability and consumer choice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32057/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The State's target is to ensure gigabit capable broadband services are made available to all premises in the country by 2028 from at least one infrastructure provider. Once this infrastructure is in place, a significant number of retail service providers can then provide services to end users. This provides consumers with significant choice and is likely to drive competition. The Department is working with the commercial operators to identify areas where gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure is either unavailable or insufficient with a view to developing remedies so that all premises can avail of these services.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the Government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. The criteria for eligibility to be part of the NBP intervention area was set at a 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload threshold that was drawn up as part of the mapping consultation in mid-2019 (this defined the NBP intervention and exclusion areas).

Alongside the NBP intervention, the Department is monitoring closely the national rollouts of open eir, Siro and Virgin media fibre networks. Open eir are currently in the process of upgrading 1.9 million premises located outside the intervention area to full fibre offering gigabit or greater (almost 1.4million premises are already upgraded).

ComReg latest report issued on the 12th June states that 86% of the premises nationally are now gigabit capable – this figure is increasing quarter-on-quarter - www.comreg.ie/media/2025/06/Quarterly-Key-Data-Report-Q1-2025.pdf.