Vol. 913 No. 3
1. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if all premises covered by the national broadband plan will be connected by 2020; if he is satisfied with the download speeds it envisages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16375/16]
Will all premises covered by the national broadband plan be connected by 2020, as was originally envisaged, and is the Minister satisfied, since coming to the Department, with the proposed download speeds that are identified? Does he have any view on the upload speeds, which are also an aspect of appropriate Internet connection? Can he give assurances to the many people throughout rural Ireland who are exceptionally dependent on the delivery of this service that it will be delivered on time and to a standard that will meet the future needs of those people?
The Government's national broadband plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high-quality, high-speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State-led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.
The broadband intervention strategy for Ireland, available on my Department's website, sets out a detailed service specification, including the requirement that the State-funded network must be capable of delivering high-quality, high-speed broadband with a download speed of at least 30 Mbps and an upload speed of 6 Mbps to all citizens; be capable of catering for higher performance in the future so as to keep pace with consumer demand; and ensure the availability of high-quality wholesale services to allow retail competition to develop. The emphasis, therefore, is on putting in place a high-quality infrastructure network capable of being scaled up to meet current and future demand, with 30 Mbps as a minimum rather than a ceiling for consumers.
In addition, the intervention strategy requires measures to meet the specific needs of businesses as well as ensuring scalability in terms of future anticipated growth in demand for bandwidth. Bidders will therefore be invited to put forward minimum speeds for businesses, which can be built into the service standards of the winning bidder's or bidders' contract. The winning bidder's or bidders' network will be subject to periodic reviews on a three-to-five-year basis to ensure that it is keeping pace with demand.
Over 750,000 premises are the focus of the procurement process, which formally commenced in December 2015 with the publication of the pre-qualification questionnaire and the project information memorandum. Five responses were received from prospective bidders at this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March 2016.
The second stage in the procurement process will be a formal invitation to participate in dialogue, the ITPD, to shortlisted bidders, following the assessment of the responses to the pre-qualification questionnaire stage.
I will allow the Minister to contribute again.
I thank the Minister for the outline, but the principal part of the question concerned whether the roll-out will, in his estimation, be completed by 2020? Does he not accept that putting forward standards as low as a base of 30 Mbps for downloads and 6 Mbps for uploads is utterly futile when what people expect in this day and age are speeds associated with a fibre-optic link? In the United States the Federal Communications Commission has declared that speeds below 25 Mbps cannot even be referred to as broadband, and we are setting a base at 30 Mbps, just within that parameter. It is way below where it needs to be.
Who will own the network, which will be funded by the State? Will it be owned by the winning bidder or will it remain an asset of the State?
The minimum requirement will be 30 Mbps. At the moment, at EU level, there is a guideline of 30 megabits per second. It is not binding, it does not state that it is a minimum or maximum and there is no way of enforcing it. During the consultation process - as the Deputy knows, there have been a number of rounds of consultation about this - some of the prospective bidders said that 30 Mbps was too high. At present the UK is considering a universal service obligation of 10 Mbps in rural areas. What we are saying, therefore, is that this would be the very minimum and would be reviewed on an ongoing basis, based on needs and demands. Based on the technologies that are used, the actual speeds may be higher than that when it comes about.
Regarding the Deputy's specific question about the timeline, what we are being told by the experts who are advising us is that it will take between three and five years to roll out this network. We expect that we will have 60% of the network rolled out within the first two years, but to roll it out to every single building and premises in Ireland will take time. If we are bringing high-speed broadband up the side of a mountain, that will not happen overnight, but we will see once the contracts are signed. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, will be very engaged very early on in this process. Questions will be taken later regarding this, but we expect that whoever the contractor is will hit the ground running and will start rolling out broadband, and a substantial number of the houses in question will get access to that quite quickly.
For the sake of clarity who will own the network? Do I have another minute?
I thank the Minister for his response, and while I accept it is an onerous task to roll out the service, there needs to be an incentive for the winning bidder to try to complete it in a timeframe shorter than that. It is all about money at the end of the day. I am still not happy about this, regardless of what the British are doing in their rural areas and regardless of the discussion that is taking place at the level of the European Commission. It should be open to us to set our own minimum standard at a much higher level and then build in the redundancy. Saying that they can offer a higher service for future expansion is not strong enough because, depending on the objective criteria that one sets for consideration of the final bids, I fail to understand how it will be possible to come down on the side of somebody who is offering a higher or better option if the minimum standard is just 30 Mbps.
I again ask the Minister to identify who he expects will own the network at the end of the process.
To deal with the issue of the speeds, under the procurement rules at EU level, we must be technology-neutral in this. We must get State aid approval at the end of this process and we must be conscious of that. If we were to set the speed that we want, for argument's sake, at one gigabit per second, then there would be only one solution to that. We must therefore try to set a benchmark that is achievable across a range of technologies. What we have tried to do with this, and what is built into it, is that it will be future-proofed for the next 25 years, and it is up to the contractors themselves then to decide which technology to use. We would very much like if they could come in and roll this out more quickly, and if they can, we will consider that, because our objective is to roll this out as quickly as possible.
Regarding the Deputy's question about the ownership model, that is an issue that we are considering at the moment, whether we go for a commercial stimulus or a full concession model. There is a debate one way or the other in that regard, and if the Deputy has suggestions or ideas and thoughts on that I would like to hear them because we must make a decision in the next phase as to what type of a model we take. There are pros and cons on this aspect. As the Deputy knows, five models were considered initially.
We have narrowed it down to two models. One would involve gap funding, where the concessionaire would own it at the end of it. The other would involve it reverting to the State at the end of the process.
2. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the action he will take to preserve the services delivered by rural post offices. [16173/16]
I am asking the question on behalf of Deputy Brian Stanley. The survival of rural Ireland will require a committed strategy from the Government, which has been sorely lacking in recent Administrations. This includes the preservation of our network of rural post offices. This has been a major issue in my constituency of Offaly and north Tipperary, as it has been throughout the country. People want a commitment by the Government to protect the rural post office. The previous Government oversaw the closure of dozens of post offices around Ireland and encouraged business away from the post offices by shifting social welfare payments from the post offices to the banks. What actions will the Minister take to preserve the services delivered by post offices, particularly those in rural areas?
I thank Deputy Carol Nolan and wish her a long career in the House. I send my good wishes to Deputy Brian Stanley.
It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong, viable company in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a national network of customer focused post offices in the community. The post office network plays an important role in serving the needs of business and domestic customers alike. However, the postal sector is undergoing systemic change, with migration towards electronic communications resulting in core mail volume decline year on year.
In recognition of the changing commercial environment, my predecessor established the Post Office Network Business Development Group last year, the remit of which was to examine the potential from existing and new Government and commercial business that could be transacted through the post office network. Mr. Bobby Kerr was appointed as the independent chairman of the group and he brought a depth of knowledge and experience in identifying and developing business opportunities for the post office network.
The final report of the group, which was published in January of this year, details 23 recommendations with network renewal, a basic payment account and motor tax being the three key actions. The final report recommended that An Post should, following appropriate consultation with postmasters and others, review and amend the five-year strategy for the post office network.
A number of working groups have been established, including a network renewal implementation group, which is being independently chaired by Mr. Bobby Kerr. This group is examining the number and spatial distribution of branches, branch modernisation, the streamlining of products and services, postmaster payments and contracts and training and qualifications for post office employees. An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU, are members of the group, which is of fundamental importance to the long-term future of the network. Good progress has been made in a collective environment and that work remains ongoing in the group.
The programme for Government commits to acting on all of the recommendations of the final report, including supporting the implementation of a basic payment account and enabling the payment of motor tax through the post office network. My officials have been actively engaging with other Departments and agencies on these issues over the past six months. Responsibility for implementation of the recommendations in the final report will shortly transfer to the Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys. A number of staff with expertise will transfer with it.
I thank the Minister for his response. I question why people received letters from the Department of Social Protection which strongly encouraged them to transfer their payments from the post office to the bank. As the Minister knows, we have a responsibility for rural Ireland. I welcome the fact the Minister is considering the payment of motor tax through the post offices. I urge him to write to the Department of Social Protection and urge it not to encourage people to move their payments from the post office to the bank. We need security and supports for post offices in our rural communities.
In recent days, I have received correspondence from the Irish Postmasters' Union, including a copy of a letter that was circulated regarding people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. The letter offered a number of options for receiving payments and it did not include the post office. This is of concern to me. I will not be hypocritical. People know when I was on the other side of the House I was very critical of the manner in which social welfare issued some of these letters in the past. I have directed my officials to make contact with the Department of Social Protection on this.
We are moving away from this. With the introduction of the basic payment account, An Post and the post offices will be on an equal footing with every single banking institution. Significant progress has been made on the basic payment account. There is ample evidence that the inclusion of it will not only benefit An Post and postmasters in bringing new business in, but will enable us to provide electronic accounts to hundreds of thousands of people who do not have access to electronic banking and transactions, particularly people in rural areas. It will provide them with a range of services. Many of the banks have abandoned rural Ireland. As the Acting Chairman, Deputy Eugene Murphy, would know, some banks give out cash only on certain days. It is important that we support the post office network. The basic payment account will be a significant step forward in that.
I welcome the fact the Minister has been so committed to the future of the post offices. I take it there will be no more letters from the Department of Social Protection urging people to transfer their payments.
The Department of Social Protection has been of great assistance to my Department, as have NewERA, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance. We have been in a working group on the basic payment account. It has far more potential than just helping An Post to retain business. Sadly, post offices have become more dependent on social welfare customers. The basic electronic account will allow people to do their transactions in the local post office rather than having to go into a town to access the bank. Post offices want to engage with people on a face-to-face basis rather than encouraging them away from teller and cash services. It opens up great opportunities not just for the traditional business that has been going through post offices, but hopefully to attract new business.
3. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views that the establishment of Eircode has provided value for money; if he is satisfied with the rate of take up by industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16216/16]
The question relates to the setting up of Eircode. The Minister will be aware that it ran €20 million over budget. Is the Minister satisfied with the take up and use of Eircodes in the transport and delivery business?
International experience shows that it takes a number of years for postcodes to become widely used after their introduction. Since the launch of Eircode, just under a year ago, there have been more than 4 million look ups on the Eircode finder, with average daily hits running at approximately 19,000. More than 80 million records across 15 public sector bodies were encoded before the launch and more than 3 million pieces of correspondence containing Eircodes have been issued by public sector bodies since July last year.
Some examples of usage by public sector bodies include the Emergency Call Answering Service, ECAS, which takes emergency calls made to 112 and 999 numbers. It has updated its systems and changed processes to enable the use of Eircode postcodes when presented by callers. The National Ambulance Service, NAS, has installed a new computer-aided dispatch system, which incorporates the Eircode postcode. This allows callers in any part of the country to phone the ambulance control centre and give their Eircode postcodes, facilitating a speedier dispatch of ambulances. The passport card online application form was introduced in October 2015 and all passport card online application forms request a postcode. All 2016 census forms included a postcode. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has started uploading the National Vehicle and Driver File, NVDF, with Eircode postcodes. This database includes address particulars in respect of the 2.6 million licensed vehicles and 2.74 million driver licence holders in the country. The motor tax database of the NVDF went live in January 2016 with postcodes.
The Revenue Commissioners have uploaded postcodes in some of their main databases and started issuing Eircode postcode-enabled correspondence in July 2015. In November 2015 alone, one database issued more than 800,000 items of correspondence with postcodes. The Department of Social Protection started issuing postcode enabled correspondence in October 2015 and, since then, more than 877,000 items of correspondence have issued with a postcode. The educational grants authority, SUSI, processes over 120,000 grant applications per annum and it now requests that college grant applications include a postcode. This has assisted SUSI to determine more efficiently the location of student addresses saving them time and facilitating faster processing times for issuing grants. Electric Ireland issued 680,000 electricity bills in February which had a postcode included on them.
The logistics and supply chain confidence index 2016 is a study that involved discussions with 53 large companies. They said this system will not have a positive impact for them. A total of 93% of respondents expect no net gain from the Eircode postcode system. While most companies welcomed the introduction of a postcode as a positive development, 96% of respondents said they had not adapted their businesses to process postcodes. I wonder whether much of this is rooted in the design of the system. Eircode is a world first in assigning a random code to every address in the State. At the outset, the national postcodes project board, which comprised representatives of the public sector and various other organisations, recommended the adoption of a hierarchical code that would enable grouping and bundling of packages for delivery, which would assist these companies in doing their business much more efficiently. As a result of a campaign by some newspapers, which through freedom of information requests have succeeded in securing access to information that had been restricted for some time, it was established that there was a recommendation to go down the route of a hierarchical code but, sadly, that did not happen. The system in place is based on random assignment. It is not being used for that reason by the companies for which it should have been introduced in the first instance and which would benefit most in respect of reducing the back end processing of the delivery of parcels. The Minister probably needs to have discussions with his officials to establish why that happened.
I read the report on the survey. It noted that two thirds of respondents said the introduction of the Eircode postcode system was a positive development for the domestic market with 73% of shipping respondents and 64% of logistics and e-commerce companies saying its introduction was a positive development. The Deputy is selectively quoting. There is positive feedback regarding the postcode system. I was probably one of the first Members to advocate for this system. I have particular difficulties with it, as I am sure the Deputy has coming from County Clare with adjoining counties such as Limerick. The Cathaoirleach will be aware of these as well. The reason I sent literature to every home in the constituency in the run-up to the election was that by using Eircode postcodes, I could identify individual houses. Under the cluster model, I could not do that. No more than in County Clare, we had a huge problem in County Roscommon with ambulances going missing and getting delayed as they tried to find various townlands. However, now because the NAS is linked to the Eircode postcode system, if callers give their postcodes over the telephone, the ambulance personnel can identify their homes precisely.
The difficulty is that approximately 35% of addresses in the State are replicated elsewhere in the State. Milltown is a good example. How many Milltowns are there in County Clare? There is a litany of them in counties Roscommon and Galway. Which one should the ambulance be sent to? An Eircode postcode will bring the ambulance to the front door of the emergency. When seconds count, having an additional 15 or 20 minutes to get the ambulance there will have a significant impact. This is a wider issue than just facilitating logistics companies. There was always going to be a slow lead-in in respect of the uptake for this system but it was significant that the NAS came on board earlier this year. I have absolutely no doubt that will save lives. I encourage the Deputy to visit the national ambulance centre in Tallaght to see the Eircode system in operation. I hope to visit soon.
I am anxious not to cut across Members and to ensure fair play for everyone on both the ministerial and Opposition sides but if I do not adhere to the agreed time limits, we will not get to the questions tabled by some Members. I will give Deputy Dooley a minute to reply.
There is no doubt the introduction of a postcode system was the correct decision to take for Ireland and there are benefits for the NAS. I have visited the centre in Tallaght and have witnessed the excellent work that goes on there. However, the national postcodes project board said a hierarchical structure was needed, which would assist other sectors of the business community, but that has not been provided. Concerns have been expressed as to why that might have been the case. Was one operator favoured over others? The Minister needs to get to the bottom of that. A hierarchical structure would not take away from the capacity to divert an ambulance to the scene of an incident. Other surveys indicate that only 5% of the public know their postcode and, therefore, that will be the greatest inhibitor to benefitting the NAS in the long run because if somebody comes upon an accident and does not know the postcode of the location, it will not be of any assistance.
I understand why the Deputy is sceptical. One of the criticisms is we that should have opted for a cluster model. That is all well and good in Dublin where there are many houses in a small area. However, there are large townlands in the country and there could be 20 different families with the surname Murphy living on them. There could be five heads of household called Eugene Murphy. Which of them does one go to?
Deputy Ryan was critical of the system because he believes it should be sequential. The difficulty with that, particularly in rural Ireland, is what happens when a young couple is granted planning permission between two current addresses. What happens in Dublin as we try to develop brownfield sites? A sequential system would fall down quickly. We tried to put a system in place for the long term. I was critical in respect of the confusion over county addresses and I relayed that to my officials but the postcode system is saving lives today. It has saved lives over the past six months and it will be of massive benefit to our health service.
When that system can be put on a sat nav it will be a different story. When personal public service, PPS, numbers were introduced, people did not have a clue about them, but many people now know their PPS number because it is very useful. I believe the same will happen with Eircode.
Question No. 4 cannot be taken as Deputy Mattie McGrath is not in the Chamber.
Does Deputy Harty wish to raise it or has he been nominated to do so, as he is member of the same group as the Deputy?
