Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 July 2020
22. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to upgrade the broadband infrastructure in eastern areas of County Cork which has poor connectivity that is hampering development within the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16054/20]
View answerI congratulate the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on his appointment at Cabinet and to a very exciting and important portfolio, particularly in a 21st century economy. I have an interest in the transport area, having done a great deal of work on it at a local authority level alongside many fine Green Party councillors in the constituency of Cork East.
Based on the Department's high-speed broadband map one can see that the Cork East area, which I represent, is in need of State intervention. In the national broadband plan, it is marked as an amber zone. Currently, Cork East is heavily dependent on commercial operators for broadband coverage. As we enter a new normal and with the increased number of people working remotely and reliant on commercial services, which are clearly inadequate, unsustainable and unacceptable, I ask the Minister to elaborate on the progress of the roll-out of the national broadband plan for Cork East.
I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I look forward to working with him, hopefully in closer quarters when we return to the Dáil Chamber.
The high-speed broadband map shows the areas in Cork East which will be included in the national broadband plan, as well as areas targeted by commercial operators. As I said earlier, 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. There are 16,200 premises in Cork East falling into this category. The blue area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high-speed broadband services and covers 25,087 premises in Cork East. The light blue area represents Eir's commercial rural deployment plans for high-speed rural broadband, including Cork East as part of a commitment agreement. Some 177 premises in Cork East fall into this category.
The NBP network will offer those premises a high-speed connection of 150 Mbps. All counties will see premises passed in the first two years and over 90% of premises will have access to high-speed broadband within the next four years. Design work is complete or ongoing in target townlands across 17 counties and progress is being made on the over 40,000 premises surveyed to date. Contractors have commenced surveying in surrounding areas of Midleton. Surveying in the Youghal and surrounding areas is due to commence early next year.
The Government is currently engaging with National Broadband Ireland to explore accelerating aspects of the plan and to bring forward premises which are currently scheduled in years six and seven to an earlier date. These discussions are ongoing and a preliminary position will be arrived at by the end of the summer.
I welcome the Minister's response. According to a report in 2019 by a major phone operator, the creation of regional digital hubs could generate in the region of €312 million for the regional economy and create over 8,400 new jobs across over 1,000 new businesses. I am sure that the Minister will agree that to ensure rural towns and villages, such as those in Cork East, do not disappear there will need to be balanced regional development in the programme for Government. Key broadband infrastructure is vital in this regard. Main streets, including in my own town in Youghal, could benefit from such initiatives.
I would like to give the Minister an indication of the shortfalls that exist. In some of the areas that I canvassed, including in Inch near my own home between Killeagh and Youghal, there are houses that in 2020 still do not have home phone connections, which is hard to believe. I am happy to work with the Minister to address the shortfalls that exist across many rural areas in the constituency.
I would be happy to do that. I agree with the Deputy's assessment that the establishment of digital hubs provides huge opportunities, particularly for Irish towns and villages, to restore commercial and retail life to the centre of our historic streets in our towns. In terms of an example, the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen has shown how we can progress. There are other examples. The commitment in the programme for Government to a towns first type policy, which is about restoring enterprise to the centre of our streets and communities, will be critical. It is in tune with what is happening in other countries and here in towns that are starting to succeed on the back of good planning. Broadband is a critical part of that planning. I am happy to work with the Deputy in trying to roll out broadband and the centres as quickly as possible.
I thank the Minister for answering my question. Traffic congestion is a huge issue in my constituency. I would like to see more people working from home. It is important the Government puts in place the infrastructure to make that a possibility. I again thank the Minister for his response and I look forward to working with him.
One of the areas on which we can work together is the identification of premises that might be appropriate. Local authorities and community enterprise have a critical role in identifying premises for the creation of such digital hubs. By definition being wireless they can be located anywhere. The purpose of the national broadband plan is to bring connectivity to the individual house. For retailers, publicans and other community facilities that have experienced difficulty in recent years digital hubs provide us with an opportunity to transition them into new community enterprise centres facilitated with high-speed connectivity. Councillors and colleagues in east Cork, west Cork and every county, in particular rural areas of the country, need to start identifying those types of premises, working with the local authorities to try to provide the connection but also the other facilities that would make them vibrant community enterprise centres.
