Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2020
629. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider accelerating the roll out of broadband to ten areas most adversely effected by the closure of Bord na Móna. [13288/20]
View answerThe High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie, shows the areas in the Midlands which will be included in the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led intervention as well as areas targeted by commercial operators. The map is colour coded and searchable by address and Eircode. - Premises in the AMBER area will be provided with high speed broadband through the State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
- The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The LIGHT BLUE area represents eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises, as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with my Department in April 2017
The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset. By the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. All counties will see premises passed in the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years. The Government is committed to delivering high speed broadband to every home, farm, business and school in Ireland and my Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this rollout to establish the possibility of bringing forward premises which are currently scheduled in years 6 and 7 of the current plan to an earlier date. Further information on deployment activities associated with the rollout can be found on the NBI website http://www.nbi.ie.
To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connections Points (BCPs) were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. This will assist communities, including those across Midlands Counties, to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. The BCP delivery project is well underway and surveying of the BCP locations is progressing which will facilitate detailed design and installation. BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery by the end of 2020.
Proposed BCP locations including schools, library hubs, local sports facilities and other public places are available to view on the High Speed Broadband Map (www.broadband.gov.ie). The BCPs in identified public places will leverage the high speed broadband connection through a range of measures and initiatives, for example providing free public Wi-Fi, some will also have hot-desks, and some will be digital hub business centres where digital training, business information events and other SME supports are organised.
I would draw the Deputy’s attention to the 2020 Just Transition Fund which is now open for applications. This is a key pillar of the just transition plan for the Midlands region. A 2020 fund of €11 million will be available for projects, focusing on retraining workers and proposals to generate sustainable employment in green enterprise in the region, and supporting communities to transition to a low carbon economy. The Fund could potentially support projects to develop/expand regional and local co-working hubs to facilitate remote working.
