Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
96. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the projected cost to the Exchequer if the State is to build a broadband network in areas not reached by commercial operators. [31748/15]
View answerGiven that we are running out of time, I will cut to the chase. The questions refers to the roll-out of broadband to areas which are not commercially viable for the commercial operators. Do we know how much it will cost and will ring-fenced funding will be made available to ensure the more remote areas will have broadband services? Do we have an idea as to what roll-out period will be involved? Is it the Minister's intention that the network infrastructure will be in public or private ownership?
The Deputy has broadened his question. I will take the broader aspects and then read into the record. We are not putting the costs down in this phase of the conversation. As the Deputy knows, it will go to a public procurement process. There will be money available for this Government intervention. The Department would not have spent time contacting the European Commission to ensure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted regarding State-led intervention without having the backup, and the Government is committed to it. There is no plan yet as to which areas will be done first. While 30% of the land mass is not commercially viable, this could change over the next six months if operators decide to intervene in particular locations. If the likes of Eircom - now known as Eir - or other companies come in and propose to provide broadband to certain towns, it is important that there would be a commitment there. My officials are working very hard and very closely with the operators that announce that they will provide broadband in a particular town and there must be the question of responsibility at a private intervention level and at Government level.
I attended the launch in Sligo and I am delighted to say that in Sligo there will be 1 GBps from mid-2016.
The Minister of State will understand the concern of people who live outside the areas of population, because it would not be the first time something that was supposed to be a national development went as far as the bigger areas of population and then the money was gone. Such populations are afraid that they are going to be left in the very same state. Australia, which is a tad bigger than Ireland-----
Slightly.
-----probably had a more challenging environment in which to roll out broadband. It is informative to see how well it was handled there.
Perhaps the Deputy has extra information, anecdotal or otherwise, on the Australian experience. I do not doubt that my officials have done their research and examined the best possible solution. I know that under the SIRO solution in towns, houses are being connected in Cavan at the moment. There are plans for large towns like Castlebar, Westport and Letterkenny. The Deputy is correct when he alludes to the age-old core-periphery argument about whether services should always go into more populated areas in the first instance and what happens rural areas in such circumstances. No decision has yet been made on how this will be rolled out in the 30% of areas that are de facto rural areas. That decision will probably be made in co-operation between the Department and whoever the preferred bidder or bidders, or successful company or companies, will be. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan raised issues relating to the importance of the islands. These are big questions that keep being raised. As a Sligo man who also represents a large rural population in County Leitrim, Deputy Colreavy wants to ensure there is equity and balance. I take his points.
