Written Answers Nos. 457-472
457. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the possibility of increasing the €10 subsidy cap per ewe under the sheep welfare scheme will be examined in view of the underspend of €5 million in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8645/18]
View answerThe Sheep Welfare Scheme was introduced in December 2016 to contribute to the continuing viability and sustainability of the sheep sector in Ireland. The Scheme is funded through the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014 - 2020 and it complements the range of other RDP supports available to sheep farmers under schemes such as GLAS, TAMS, Knowledge Transfer and the Areas of Natural Constraint scheme.
Advance payments of €16 million at a rate of 85% under the first year of the scheme issued in November 2017. Balancing payments at a rate of 15% will issue in 2018. This will bring the total for Year 1 of the Scheme to approximately €19m.
The details of the Sheep Welfare Scheme, including the amount of payment to participants, were approved by the European Commission in 2016. The payment rates are based on the agreed costings underlying the actions to be undertaken in the scheme, and an increase in the funding allocated to existing actions would thus require changes to the actions currently being undertaken by farmers, or the addition of new actions. Any such changes to the details of the scheme would require the agreement of the European Commission via the formal Rural Development Programme amendment process.
458. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of vacant habitable dwelling units and vacant derelict residential dwelling units in the ownership of or part ownership of or under the control of both his Department and agencies under his remit; the county in which each unit is located; the length of time each unit has been vacant, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8657/18]
View answerThe six State owned Fishery Harbour Centres at Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, Dingle, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth are managed and operated by my Department under Statute. The property portfolio at the six Fishery Harbour Centres consists of 215 properties, the income from which supports the running of the Harbours. With two exceptions these properties are not residential.
The table below gives details of both the residential properties under the remit of the Fishery Harbour Centres which are currently vacant and not in a habitable condition. The Department is preparing to make both properties available for disposal offering them initially to other State organisations in keeping with Government Policy for Property Acquisition and for Disposal of Surplus Property: Circular 17/2016
|
Details of Premises |
County Located |
Length of time vacant |
|
Ros an Mhíl Harbour Masters House. |
Galway |
Since November 2008 |
|
Killybegs Harbour Masters House. |
Donegal |
Since circa 2004/2005 |
In addition, the Department also has a residential property at Longtown Farm (County Kildare) which is temporarily vacant, the occupancy of which is restricted by operational considerations.
With regard to agencies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the agencies themselves. In accordance with the new procedures effective since September 2016, as notified by the Clerk of the Dáil, my Department has provided contact details for all of our agencies. Details of dedicated email addresses for State Bodies are available for Oireachtas members through the Clerk of Dáil Éireann.
459. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department received a formal request from Donegal County Council to investigate the contents of potentially toxic materials dumped off the coast between 2015 and 2017 and to date in 2018; if there has been formal communication between the local authority and his Department in relation to the 2010 OSPAR Commission report into past dumping at sea of chemical weapons and munitions in the OSPAR maritime area which gave details of chemical munition dump sites off the County Donegal coast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8777/18]
View answerI would inform the Deputy that responsibility for the OSPAR Convention and dumping at sea generally comes under the remit of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
I can also confirm that my Department has received no formal communications from Donegal County Council on this matter.
460. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when broadband will be rolled out to an area (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8082/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. Since this Government came into office almost 400,000 additional premises have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. The specific premises referred to by the Deputy is in an AMBER area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. It is therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
My Department is in a formal procurement process to engage a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. “Detailed Solutions” have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion and a subsidy level has been approved by Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
Prior to the rollout of the State led intervention, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
461. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when a company (details supplied) will provide infrastructure for broadband in an area. [8100/18]
View answerMy Department’s technical team has contacted openeir to query the status of the premises referred to by the Deputy under openeir’s ongoing deployment of rural high speed broadband. Once a response from openeir is to hand, my Department will contact the Deputy’s office directly to confirm the categorisation of this particular premises in openeir’s plans.
For those premises in the AMBER area on the Map, my Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will rollout a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. “Detailed Solutions” have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion and a subsidy level has been approved by Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
462. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the availability of broadband services in an area (details supplied) in County Westmeath; when the national broadband plan will provide adequate service to this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8122/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. Since this Government came into office almost 400,000 additional premises have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. The premises on the street referred to by the Deputy are in an AMBER area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie . They are therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
In April 2017 the Map was updated, moving 84,500 premises from the BLUE to the AMBER area. This was done because commercial operator’s plans in those areas had not materialised. Premises on the street referred to by the Deputy were among the number moved from BLUE to AMBER at that point. In order to ensure every premises gets access to this vital service, high speed broadband will be brought to them under the NBP State Intervention.
My Department is in a formal procurement process to engage the company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at a final stage. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and a priority for Government.
In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
463. Deputy Dara Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason there is poor broadband connectivity in an area (details supplied); when this issue will be rectified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8132/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie . This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP.
The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:
- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.
- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The Light BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April 2017.
The map shows that the townland of Ballygarvan Co. Cork comprises approximately 290 premises and broadband coverage will be realised through a mix of commercial investment and the State led Intervention under the NBP. Of the 290 premises, 192 premises fall within the BLUE area where commercial operators are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services to this townland. 37 premises fall within light BLUE area and form part of eir’s 300k planned rural deployment, to be completed by the end of this year. The remaining 61 premises fall within the State led Intervention. Individuals can access the High Speed Broadband Map using their eircode to ascertain the colour code status for their premises.
Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available from eir at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/ . Individuals can access this website to determine the connectivity availability status for their premises using their eircode. The website also provides a list of retail service providers who offer services using the high speed fibre network in the area.
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. “Detailed Solutions” have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team.
This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion and a subsidy level is agreed by Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
Prior to the rollout of the State led intervention, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
464. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the regulatory system for the disposal of end of life tyres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8140/18]
View answerI signed the Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2017 on 14 September last and the scheme came into effect from 1st October 2017. I introduced these regulations to deal with a chronic problem with waste tyres in Ireland. These regulations enabled me to put in place a full compliance scheme for tyre operators, operated by Repak End of Life Tyres (ELT) with a registration and reporting role for the Producer Register Limited. Under the new regulations, all operators are obliged to provide data on the numbers of tyres coming on and off the Irish market. This will be the first time that there will be clarity in this regard. It is mandatory for anyone placing tyres on the market in Ireland to join the compliance scheme.
The scheme carries out all regulatory functions on behalf of its members and is funded by a visible Environmental Management Charge (vEMC). Under the new Regulations anyone who places a tyre on the market in the State for the first time, including the sale of new vehicles, is obliged to charge the vEMC on these tyres. The vEMC has been set at €2.80 ex VAT for car tyres and €1.50 ex VAT for motorcycle tyres. Setting the vEMC rate for agricultural, construction and truck tyres has been deferred pending the gathering of further market data.
465. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of staff allocated to the national cyber security centre, NCSC; the job titles, qualifications and specifications for each of these roles; the amount of time each person has worked for the NCSC; the future allocation of additional staff to the centre; the timeframe for these allocations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8160/18]
View answer466. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the key objectives of the national cyber security centre; if the NCSC has achieved formal international accreditation; the level of funding provided to the NCSC in each of the years 2015 to 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8161/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 465 and 466 together.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides a range of cyber security services to owners of Government IT infrastructure and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). The NCSC is home to the national Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT-IE) and is responsible for acting as a conduit for information to constituents (including operators of Critical National Infrastructure, Government Departments and Agencies), providing expert advice and analysis on cyber security issues and for coordinating significant incidents. Like similar bodies in other jurisdictions, the NCSC acts as a central contact point in the event of a government or nation-wide cyber security incident affecting the State. The NCSC received International Accreditation in 2017.
While my Department does not release specific details in relation to the staff or precise funding allocated to the NCSC for operational security reasons, the expertise contained within the NCSC covers a broad range of capabilities including computer science, software engineering, malware analysis and information technology forensics. In Budget 2018 additional funding was secured for additional capacity in the NCSC, both in terms of personnel and additional technology, and a significant programme of recruitment will commence shortly.
From 9 May 2018, European Union Directive 2016/1148, concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems will place a number of significant responsibilities on the NCSC in respect of Cyber Security, and will require my Department to establish a list of key critical infrastructure operators, known as Operators of Essential Services (OES) in the energy, transport, banking, financial market infrastructures, health, drinking water supply and digital infrastructure sectors. These OES will be subject to a set of binding security obligations and reporting requirements in relation to cyber security incidents affecting them. In addition, the State will be required to apply a new regulatory regime to Digital Service Providers (DSPs), who include cloud computing providers, search engines providers and providers of online market places.
467. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the planned roll-out of a product (details supplied) from the Tara exchange to households and businesses in the Dunsany, Kilmessan and Kiltale areas of County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8230/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. Since this Government came into office almost 400,000 additional premises have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
In April 2017, I also signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the roll out by the end of this year. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/. A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.
Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises to date.
The High Speed Broadband Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:
- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.
- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April.
The table below outlines the number of premises which fall into these categories in each of the townlands referred to by the Deputy.
|
Area |
Total |
Premises in AMBER |
Premises in BLUE |
Premises in LIGHT BLUE |
|
Dunsany |
91 |
4% (4) |
|
96% (87) |
|
Kilmessan |
339 |
8% (26) |
87% (26) |
5% (18) |
|
Kiltale |
94 |
43% (40) |
|
57% (54) |
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. “Detailed Solutions” have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
Prior to the rollout of the NBP State led intervention, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
468. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the allowance of €75 for households with medical waste will come into effect; the way in which persons will apply for the allowance; the documentation that will be required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8260/18]
View answer469. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if an increase to the €75 allowance will be awarded to households with higher waste weights in cases in which more than one member of the household has medical waste; and if an additional allowance will be awarded to these households. [8261/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 468 and 469 together.
In line with the commitments set out in A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in 2012, and in the interest of encouraging further waste prevention and greater recycling, flat-rate fees for kerbside household waste collection are being phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018, as customers contracts come up for renewal. The necessary regulatory steps have been put in place to give effect to this measure.
It is worth noting that this measure is not ‘new’ for about half of kerbside household waste customers, who are already on an incentivised usage pricing plan, i.e., a plan which contains a per lift or weight related fee.
As announced in mid-2017, mandatory per kilogramme 'pay by weight' charging is not being introduced. Allowing for a range of charging options, which encourage householders to reduce and separate their waste, provides flexibility to waste collectors to develop various service-price offerings that suit different household circumstances. Consequently, a pure kilogramme charge for waste collection may not be selected by some households. Instead, some households may use a ‘per lift’ type charge or a ‘weight allowance’ collection service.
An annual support of €75 per person will be introduced as soon as possible this year and made available for persons with lifelong or long-term medical incontinence. This will help people meet the average annual cost for the disposal of medical incontinence products. My Department is in discussion with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive with a view to finalising the details and arrangements of the support as soon as possible, following further consultation with stakeholder groups.
470. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the public electric vehicle charging point in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim will be reinstated; the reason the charging point at Collooney railway station and the charging points in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim are permanently out of order; his plans to rectify the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8264/18]
View answerThe ESB, through its eCars programme, has rolled out both publicly accessible charging infrastructure and domestic charge points for electric vehicles. There are approximately 900 EV charge points in Ireland of which circa 70 are rapid chargers. The maintenance of eCar charge points is an operational matter for the ESB. I have asked that the eCars team contact the Deputy directly in relation to the charge points highlighted.
A map showing all public charge points in Ireland, including the status and availability of the charge points, is available on the ESB’s website at www.esb.ie/ecars. There is also the ‘ecar connect’ app enables users to locate charge points in Ireland, locate the nearest charge point and to help them to plan their route using the installed infrastructure around the country.
In March 2014, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities approved an application from ESB Networks to recover the costs of a pilot project to a maximum of €25 million from use of system charges to cover the rollout of this infrastructure. Following a public consultation process, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities published its independent regulatory decision in relation to the ownership of this infrastructure in October 2017. A key outcome of the decision is that the charging network should not form part of the regulated asset base and therefore expansions of the network should not be funded from network charges. This is in keeping with the proposals set out by the European Commission in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package which was published in 2016.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities also envisages the future sale of the infrastructure by ESB Networks. However, the continued ownership of the charging network by ESB Networks for a transitional period of up to ten years is provided for. This ensures no short to medium term impact on the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and allows the ESB to continue to provide electric vehicle charging across Ireland.
The decision also set out the need for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure to operate on a commercial basis. In the absence of State-led support, this is unlikely to happen in the near term. Funding has been allocated in my Department's budget this year to support the provision of public charging, with a particular focus on increasing the number of rapid chargers on key national routes.
The Low Emissions Vehicle Taskforce, which is co-chaired by my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, is considering a range of measures and options available to Government to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles. A key focus of the work of the Taskforce is examining options for infrastructure, regulation and pricing in order to devise a sustainable policy framework for effective and efficient electric vehicle charging. This includes examining options for the provision of public charging.
471. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high speed broadband will be provided in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8284/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. Since this Government came into office almost 400,000 additional premises have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention. The premises referred to by the Deputy is in an AMBER area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. It is therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
My Department is in a formal procurement process to engage the company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State Intervention Area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
472. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to provide fibre optic broadband facilities in the Ballinalack and Rathowen areas of County Westmeath. [8317/18]
View answerThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. Since this Government came into office almost 400,000 additional premises have access to high speed broadband. This will increase to nearly 8 out of 10 premises by the end of this year and by 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
In April 2017, I also signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of this year. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/ A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie
Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises to date.
The High Speed Broadband Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:
- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.
- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April 2017.
The number of premises that fall into each of these categories in the areas referred to by the Deputy is outlined in the below table. Individuals can enter their eircode into the map to find out into which category their premises falls into.
|
Area |
Total |
Premises in AMBER |
Premises in BLUE |
Premises in LIGHT BLUE |
|
Ballinalack |
76 |
|
|
100% (76) |
|
Rathowen |
103 |
7% (7) |
91% (94) |
2% (2) |
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages. “Detailed Solutions” have been evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder and contract signature. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.
Prior to the roll out of the NBP State led intervention network, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
