Thomas Gould
Question:70. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the status of the implementation of the National Broadband Plan in an area (details supplied). [61428/21]
View answerTuesday, 14 December 2021
Questions (70)
Written answers
There are over 276,000 premises in County Cork of which over 80,000 are within the National Broadband Plan Intervention Area and will receive access to high speed broadband under the State led intervention to be delivered by National Broadband Ireland. Government investment in County Cork in the NBP will be in the order of €314 million.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland that, some 30,728 premises in County Cork have been now surveyed. In total, over 282,000 premises in the Intervention Area across all counties have been surveyed or have surveys underway, with almost 150,000 premises under construction or complete. NBI has also advised that the first premises are connected in Cavan, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Monaghan and almost 35,000 premises are available to order and pre-order across 12 counties as of 3 December. This includes over 4,500 premises in County Cork.
Surveys are complete in County Cork in the Deployment Areas of Templemartin and Tallow. Surveying is underway in the Deployment Areas of Kanturk and Fermoy. Main build works are currently underway in the Deployment Areas of Midleton and Youghal and are complete in Carrigaline. I am advised that premises will be available for connection in the Midleton Deployment Area in the first half of 2022. This covers the areas of North Esk, Rougrane and Carbeytown.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Cork through the NBI website which provides a facility for people living within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates at 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. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries. Given the scale and complexity of delivery of the new high speed broadband network under the NBP, I am advised that any dates provided by NBI on its website are based on the best available information at the time and may be subject to change.
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 3 December, 424 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 for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs. BCPs are installed in County Cork at Ballydaly Community Hall, Aubane Community Centre, Castletownkenneigh Community Centre, Mealagh Valley Community Centre, Lissavard Community Centre, Riverstick Community Centre, Bere Island Heritage Centre, Sherkin Island Community Hall, Coláiste Phobal Cléire, Whitechurch Community Centre, Clogagh Community Hall, Laharn Heritage Centre, Castlelyons Community Centre, Glash Community Centre, T.O. Park Labbamollaga, Ionadh Áise, The Old Schoolhouse, Inch Community Centre, Ballindangan Community Centre, Courtbrack Community Centre and Aghabullogue Community Centre. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.
Ballycroneen Naional School, Clogagh National School, Scoil Naisiunta Bhiorainn, Scoil Naisiunta Padraig Naofa, Templebrady National School, Shanbally National School, Ballygarvan National School, Scoil Naisiunta Fionan Na Reanna, Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour National School, Educate Together Carrigaline, Ballyheeda National School and Druimne National School have been installed by NBI for educational access. 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 this aspect of the National Broadband Plan has been announced which 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 nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.