Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 February 2021
79. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the forecasted completion date of high-speed broadband roll-out to premises in County Tipperary; and the current status of the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan including promised properties and delivered properties in County Tipperary. [5912/21]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. The deployment plan forecasts construction commenced in all counties within the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State having access to high speed broadband within the next four years. I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 22 January 2021, over 166,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed including 8,211 in County Tipperary. Surveys have been completed in the surrounding townlands of Aherloe, Ballinalard and Bansha and pre-build works have commenced in these areas. Surveys are progressing in the Roscea area and surrounding townlands and have started in Cashel, Townspark, Boherlahan, Goolds Cross, Knockavilla, Garrenroe, Camus Bridge, Golden, Shanballa, Dogstown, Racecourse Cross, Rosegreen, Knockbrett, Mayfield, Boscobell and Dualla. Further details are available on specific areas within County Tipperary through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie. Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. I am advised that NBI is working to provide more detail on its website, with a rolling update on network build plans. NBI also has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 22 January, 255 publicly accessible BCP sites have been installed by NBI and the high speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development. BCP’s installed in County Tipperary are Drom Community Centre, Killoscully Community Centre and Killea GAA Club. BCP sites connected are Moyglass Community Hall, Killurney Community Centre and Aglish Community Centre. Further details can be found at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.
Poulacapple National School and Killeen National School are installed by NBI and will be connected with high speed broadband for educational use through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Education as part of this initiative. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area, for connection over the term of the NBP. In this regard, an acceleration of the schools aspect of the project was announced late last year and will see some 679 primary schools connected to high speed broadband by 2022, well ahead of the original target delivery timeframe of 2026. Further details are available on the NBI website at https://nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
