Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
148. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19469/23]
View answerThe premises referred to in the Question is located in the BLUE area on the NBP High-Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie.
BLUE areas are not included in the State intervention area covered by the National Broadband Plan as commercial operators are already providing high-speed broadband or have indicated future plans to do so. Under State aid rules, my Department is not permitted to displace commercial investment by intervening in areas where commercial investment exists or is planned, as to do so would be an infringement of these State aid rules.
My Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. Following an investigation, our technical team advised that this premises should be capable of obtaining speeds of 40Mbps. If your constituent is not obtaining this speed profile, they should contact their Retail Service Provider who will investigate the issue on their behalf.
This area is part of eir’s national fibre upgrade plan and the address for the premises provided is scheduled for a fibre upgrade which will deliver speeds of 1Gbp and above. This area is scheduled to be fibre enabled by eir in the next one to two years.
In December 2022 my Department published Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy which supports the ambition outlined in the National Digital Strategy and sets out a number of ambitious targets namely:
* all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028;
* all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030, and
* digital connectivity will be delivered to all schools and broadband connection points by 2023.
The majority of digital connectivity across the State will be delivered through commercial investment by the telecommunications industry and this will be complemented by the National Broadband Plan.
