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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 7 Feb 2017

Vol. 937 No. 3

Priority Questions

Mobile Telephony Services

James Lawless

Ceist:

35. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the details of the programme for Government commitments relating to improving mobile phone coverage; the timeframe for actions in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6089/17]

The question I am putting to the Minister is on the subject of solar energy. What steps have been taken to support the development of same? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

The question that was submitted is not on solar energy, it is on mobile phone coverage.

The Minister can make a statement on mobile phone coverage. It is imperative to all parts of the country.

The programme for Government included a commitment to establish a mobile phone and broadband task force to identify immediate solutions to broadband and mobile phone coverage deficits and to investigate how better services could be provided to consumers prior to the full build and roll-out of the network planned under the national broadband plan State intervention.

The task force, which I co-chaired with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was established in July 2016 and published its report in December. The report is available on both Departments' websites. In producing this report, the task force worked with Government Departments; local authorities; the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg; State agencies; the telecoms industry; and other key stakeholders. The membership of the group included my Department; the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural, and Gaeltacht Affairs; the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government; the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport; the Office of Public Works; NewERA; Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Teagasc; Trinity College CTVR; the County and City Management Association; Irish Rural Link; the Irish Countrywomen's Association; businesses based in rural Ireland; the National Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; and an independent planning adviser. ComReg participated on the task force as an observer in order to provide advice and guidance in its capacity as the independent regulator of the telecommunications market. The task force met approximately 20 times with a number of helpful initiatives emerging in the areas of planning, local authority engagement, and consumer information and engagement.

The report of the task force contains 40 actions which will alleviate some of the telecommunications deficits across Ireland and the implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access identifies 19 of the 40 actions as areas where immediate and direct action can be taken by Government Departments and State agencies to ensure accelerated benefits to consumers. The work of the task force will also assist local authorities in preparing for the roll-out of the new national broadband plan network once the contract or contracts are in place. Each of the actions contained in the report and implementation programme has its own timeframe for delivery, which is set out in the report.

In order to maintain the momentum created by the task force, an implementation group is being established to drive and monitor the implementation of the actions. The implementation group will be led by my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The implementation group will formally report every 90 days to both the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and me, who will in turn jointly brief Cabinet on the progress. I will be receiving regular updates from my officials in between these formal reporting periods. The implementation group will carry out a fundamental review of progress made after 12 months and will also be mandated to recommend further actions that would result in improved service for consumers.

I am aware of the actions in the task force and I am aware that 2018 is the date by which those actions are due to be completed. It is my and my party's view that the timeline is too late and that we need to identify the areas of coverage far in advance of that and to do so immediately. We are 20 years into having mobile phones as common currency and yet we still do not know what areas have comprehensive coverage and which do not. It is a basic commodity. We talk about the roll-out of broadband and the roll-out of 4G services and more recent technologies but we do not even have mobile phone coverage yet in many parts of the island. Until we understand where the gaps are, how can we begin to tackle it? People experience dropped calls and patchy coverage. People are almost offended by some of the campaigns telling them about the 4G services they can start to enjoy when they cannot even get 3G. They cannot even get 1G in terms of calls. In north-west Kildare in my constituency, which is not a million miles from Dublin, it is a problem the way it is in the west, south west and other parts of the country. We need to bring forward this review. We need to look at the coverage maps. We need to do it in 2017 and sooner rather than later.

The task force is implementing the recommendations. It is proceeding with them now; it is not waiting until 2018. We have started to implement a number of those recommendations even in advance of the publication of the task force report. We have appointed liaison officers in each local authority across the country to work with the telecoms industry to assist it in the roll-out of infrastructure across the country. That has already happened. I signed a ministerial order in October to allow ComReg to release the 3.5 GHz spectrum. It will be auctioned off in the first half of this year and will improve mobile phone coverage. Part of the problem we have with mobile phone coverage at the moment is that the allocation of licences is based on populations rather than geographic coverage. It is something I am looking at for the release of the 700 MHz spectrum. I have already given RTE an allocation for funding in the current year to allow it to begin the process of decommissioning its broadcasting equipment on the 700 MHz spectrum so we will hopefully be one of the first countries in Europe to release that spectrum. I would like to see that spectrum being released on a geographic rather than a population coverage basis.

That spectrum is needed and it is a welcome development. I am proposing an independent audit. It is what is needed to give that objective view of where coverage is needed and where it suffers at present. We are projecting up to 85% by 2017-18 in terms of the four current primary mobile operators but we are not there yet. That still leaves parts of the country unserviced.

I am hearing all the right things. The measures being proposed are very needed and welcome but we have not seen them in action yet. I understand the Minister said that certain actions are already being implemented. They need to be brought forward. The Government, as a whole, has shown a disregard for rural Ireland. The Minister is from rural Ireland so perhaps it does not apply in this case but it certainly applies to the rest of Cabinet. The Government needs to address the issues of rural Ireland immediately as a priority, including mobile phone coverage.

Deputy Lawless and I are singing from the same hymn sheet. The reason for the establishment of the mobile phone and broadband task force was that I was deeply frustrated by the announcement by my Department, before I became Minister, that there was further delay in the roll-out of the national broadband plan. I looked at it and asked what we could do in practical terms. I had it included in the programme for Government that this task force would be established within the first 100 days. In advance of the task force being established, I met each of the telecoms operators in the country and asked them to come forward with the problems and bottlenecks they were having with rolling out their networks. Over the past four years, €1.7 million was being spent every day by the telecoms operators in the country. I want to see that investment ramped up. What this task force and the actions in it will do is facilitate that happening. We have already started to implement them. I am getting regular reports from the team working on this and I intend to see significant movement and improvement, not only in mobile phone coverage or wireless broadband coverage but on fixed line broadband coverage in 2017.

National Broadband Plan Implementation

Brian Stanley

Ceist:

36. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the timeframe for the procurement process and delivery of the national broadband plan; and if he foresees any problems that may inhibit or create difficulty in the successful roll-out of the broadband network to the intervention areas. [6091/17]

I welcome the Minister on his first day back. It is good to see him back on his feet again. Hopefully he will make a full recovery. He has been through a difficult time.

This question is about the national broadband plan.

There is major concern about it. The roll-out of the plan is badly needed in all areas. I was in County Roscommon yesterday, which is one of the counties in which the roll-out of broadband services is needed. It is also urgently needed in County Laois. People in rural parts of the county cannot do business due to the lack of it. We want to see its speedy roll-out.

The Minister has two minutes to reply and perhaps he would keep an eye on the clock.

Grand.

The national broadband plan aims to deliver high-speed broadband services to households, schools and businesses throughout Ireland. The programme for Government commits to the delivery of the national broadband plan as a priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and by State intervention.  

Currently, approximately 1.4 million premises in Ireland can get high-speed broadband of a minimum of 30 Mbps from commercial service providers and investment by the telecoms sector is continuing to expand this footprint.

My Department is actively monitoring the commercial deployment plans in the blue areas on the high-speed broadband map on our website, www.dccae.gov.ie, to ensure that all premises can get access to services. Direct feedback from consumers is important and if customers in these areas cannot access high-speed broadband services, they should inform my Department by emailing us at broadband@dccae.gov.ie. My Department is also actively monitoring developments of the commercial operators that might have an impact on the intervention area.

The formal procurement process to select a company or companies which will roll out a new high-speed broadband network within the State intervention area is being intensively managed to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network for at least 25 years. Intensive dialogue with bidders is continuing and to date, we have had more than 500 hours of competitive dialogue. The three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. This provides for a future-proofed solution for the 25 years of the contract and beyond.  A fibre-to-the-home solution means speeds not just of 30 Mbps but much higher, potentially up to 1,000 Mbps. 

My Department will shortly update the high-speed broadband map and finalise this intervention area to give certainty to the procurement process, taking into account industry investments that have not yet materialised in the blue areas, together with new industry investments within the proposed State intervention area, along with concrete and credible commitments by industry for further new investments within the intervention area.

The timeframe for the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors, including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team and bidders during the procurement process.

I advise the Deputy that no one will be left behind.

The Minister will have two more opportunities to respond.

The roll-out of the national broadband plan will happen in every county together.

I thank the Minister for his reply. The concern is that there has been slippage in the timeline for the procurement process. It was supposed to happen during the term of the previous Government in the Thirty-first Dáil. It is not the Minister's fault that it did not happen but his party came into office and this was to happen in the first six months of the Government's term of office. It was delayed, and postponed until this year and it is now delayed until further on in the year. People in the industry say it will be well into next year before the procurement is sorted out. That is of major concern because broadband connectivity is essential for businesses and jobs in rural Ireland. In saying rural Ireland, I am also referring to small towns and villages such as Ballyfin, Ballinakill, Rathdowney, Mountrath and Borris-in-Ossory and in south Kildare, places like Monasterevin, Kildangan and Kilberry. Those areas are in bad need of broadband services. The concern is that there will be not only a delay in the procurement but also in the roll-out of the broadband. Can the Minister give a timeline for that?

This is a very complex contract. The contract paperwork runs to approximately 2,000 pages. I am in regular contact with the team that is managing this to make sure there is no delay within the competency of the Department, but the three bidders have sought additional time for this process. The last thing I want to see happen is that we would award a contract and spend the next five years in court deciding who will carry out the work while rural Ireland is left without high-speed broadband.

I am doing a number of things. First, I am intensively monitoring this process to make sure there is no delay on our side and I am encouraging and putting as much pressure as possible on the bidders to turn around their aspect of it as quickly as possible within the confines of the procurement process in which we are involved. Second, we are trying to facilitate the private telecommunications companies in rolling out their network and plans. They are spending approximately €1.7 million on average a day at present. I want to facilitate them in rolling that out quicker with respect to mobile, wireless and fixed-line broadband services.

I mentioned the issue of quality and I am glad to hear the Minister is monitoring it. It needs to be monitored and rolled out very quickly. The issue of broadband quality is essential. We need high-speed broadband that will require fibre-to-the-home because of modern demands in terms of business and students' needs. That is what the industry has told us.

A further concern is that one of the three preferred bidders is trying to capture part of the market before the contract is awarded. One of the Minister's ministerial colleagues raised concerns about this. Eir seems to be creating a situation where doughnut areas are being created around certain towns and centres where there is broadband connectivity and it is also cherry-picking where it will serve in terms of the rural areas. If one of the providers is cherry-picking places in the yellow area, that will make it very difficult competitively for the other bidders to roll out the scheme. I am not sure what the Minister can do about that but this matter must be examined and the Minister must intervene.

My other question relates to the timeline. Once the procurement process is done, we need a date for its completion and a timeline for roll-out of quality broadband. I ask the Minister to intervene with regard to the issue that has arisen in the past six months and revert to Members on it because it is of serious concern. The three bidders are big boys and girls and they are able to fight their own corner but their concern is that if they engage in cherry-picking, inevitably they will distort the process and make it difficult for others to go into the market. Some areas will be left behind regardless of whether the Minister and I like it.

The Deputy has exceeded his time. The Minister has one minute to reply. We have to have some control with regard to time.

On the concerns the Deputy has raised regarding the potential for cherry-picking and the "doughnutting" effect he spoke about-----

Doughnut areas are being created around the towns.

I live in rural Ireland. My constituency and native county have the worse broadband coverage in the country. I am very conscious of all of these issues. My Department is conscious of all of these issues. This is a matter on which we are actively engaged on an ongoing basis.

On the issue of quality, the Deputy made the point that families need fibre-to-the-home now. Anecdotal evidence I got from some rural families that were offered fibre-to-the-home indicates they have said it is too expensive and that they have 4G, which is sufficient to meet their needs. The reality is that families currently do not need fibre-to-the-home. Some businesses may need it but what we are putting in place is a network for the next 25 years. I have no doubt, and it may be in five or ten years' time, that fibre-to-the-home is required but we are making sure that this network is future-proofed. What we are doing in the short term, however, is providing a basic level of service that meets families' needs, whether it is to do with downloading information from the Internet or accessing Netflix or video content, to ensure they have the capacity to do that. The mobile phone and broadband task force will deal with some of those problems in the short term.

There was also the issue of doughnut areas being created around towns.

I advise the Minister and Members that there are 13 minutes allowed for two questions. We have used up almost 19 minutes. Other Members will want to come in. I ask them to assist me and keep an eye on the clock because I do not want to be intervening.

Climate Change Policy

James Lawless

Ceist:

37. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when his Department will initiate the national dialogue on climate change; the amount of funding that has been allocated to the dialogue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6090/17]

I will be brief. I did not realise it was the Minister's first day back. I also welcome him back to action. It is good to see him back on his feet, as they say.

A Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to establish a national dialogue on climate change. This dialogue does not appear to have started. It is targeted for 2017. We are now into February 2017 and there is no sign of it. It is to include a forum for all stakeholders, communities, commercial bodies, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and businesses and the farming community. There is no sign of it yet. My concern is that it will become a blockage to progress in the area. Will the Minister make a statement on its current position, including the funding that has been allocated?

I thank Deputies Stanley and Lawless for their kind comments.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to establish a national dialogue on climate change. This builds on the commitment in the energy White Paper to establish a national energy forum to maximise and maintain consensus on the broad policy measures set out in the White Paper required to ensure the transition to a low-carbon energy future.

It is my intention that the national dialogue on climate change will encompass not only the role envisaged for the national energy forum but also a wider focus to include the examination of key infrastructural, land use, security of supply and economic issues that need to be addressed in the long-term transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient future.

It is important the national dialogue on climate change reflects the views of all stakeholders, including communities, non-governmental organisations, business and the wider Departments and State agencies. The briefing document on Ireland's first national mitigation plan, which I published on 1 February, and the formal consultation on the draft plan, which will commence in mid-March, are integral parts of the dialogue. I also intend to initiate a further consultation later this year on Ireland's national adaptation framework, which will also form part of the dialogue, to address our national response in dealing with the impact of climate change.

I will announce full details of the national dialogue on climate change shortly. The initial allocation of €350,000 has been made in 2017 towards the dialogue.

I can understand why Deputy Lawless says we are in February and there is no sign of the national dialogue but I must smile to myself because Deputies Stanley and Sherlock, who have been around this House an awful lot longer, would be able to explain that 2017 could be 31 December 2017. That date would still comply with the commitment set out in the programme for Government. However, it is not my intention to establish the national dialogue only on 31 December. We have had a number of priority issues within the Department. It was important to get these documents published in advance of commencing the dialogue, but it is my intention to try to move forward with the dialogue as quickly as possible and try to facilitate as much constructive debate across this country as possible.

As they say, past performance is no indicator of future performance. Just because it was done in a certain way for years and years does not mean it was the right way to do it. If we can do things more quickly, sooner and more effectively, let us do so rather than kick them to touch. We have had consultations and task forces. Now is the time for action on the national dialogue. It is an important step.

My primary concern is perhaps not so much the dialogue as the possibility that it will become a block to action coming at the end of it. The dialogue is much needed, but the sooner the dialogue starts and finishes, the sooner the much-needed action kicks in. We are well behind on our 2020 targets. In March of last year, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, produced a report predicting that Ireland's emissions would be between 6% to 11% below the 2005 levels, which indicates that we have actually stepped backwards in this area. Given the global context, President Trump's various remarks and his immediate steps to row back Mr. Obama's climate change programme, it is even more a priority that Ireland meets its own obligations and takes immediate steps towards that.

Regarding the energy mix, the REFIT programme is still stalled, we have not seen action on solar energy and we have an overemphasis on wind energy. I find it difficult to see at this stage how the 2020 targets will be met, or will the country end up paying fines for lack of compliance? These are two nightmare scenarios we would rather avoid. I ask the Minister to bring forward the dialogue post haste.

The fact the dialogue has not commenced is not a block to action. We have published the final consultation on the renewable heat incentive scheme. It will be up and running this year. We have published a discussion document on the mitigation plan. The formal consultation on that will begin in March. We are now working on the adaptation plan. We will also consider the replacement for the renewable energy feed in tariff, REFIT, scheme and publish proposals on that.

What was important was to put these documents out into the public domain and start the discussion in order that there is a context to the debate on the national dialogue. The plan for the national dialogue is that it will be much more far-seeing and far-reaching. We will focus on 2050 rather than 2020. Regarding our 2020 targets, a renewable energy progress report was published by the European Commission on 1 February. The report at this stage projects that by 2020, Ireland will be at 15.5% of its 16% target, which is a shortfall of 0.5%. I am not happy with that, but the trajectory is not as bad as the impression that has been given, and we have far harder challenges to meet in 2030.

I ask the Minister to give in his concluding remarks the details of the framework. What funding has been allocated to it and how is its roll-out envisaged? Will it be a series of workshops around the country or a convening of all the great and the good at some forum? How exactly will it work?

Regarding the meeting of our targets, and I appreciate the Minister said we are projected to be 0.5% away from where we need to be, I attended the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources, EUFORES, conference a few months ago and was frankly embarrassed to see on a screen Ireland at the bottom of the table in terms of meeting our climate change targets. It is an emergency. There are many other challenges facing the country, not least President Trump, Brexit, etc., but climate change must be up there with them. As a nation looking to long-term sustainability and taking the long-term view, it is paramount that we make progress in this area. I ask the Minister to address this as well.

I thank the Deputy for observing the time.

First, €350,000 is allocated for this year in that regard. If the Deputy has any suggestions or thoughts as to how we can engage with communities throughout the country, I am quite happy to hear them. Suggestions have been put to me about the public participation networks and how they could be involved in the national dialogue. I also want to see schoolchildren involved in it because the reality is that action or inaction now will have implications for young people today in getting employment in the future and having to deal with the consequences if we fail to deliver the targets for 2050. Therefore, it is important that young people also be engaged with this.

Based on the European Commission projection, we will fall short of our targets, but I want to try to see if we can hit that 2020 target and start working towards our 2030 target. It is important to point out that we are leading the world in having test sites for renewable wave and tidal energy. We are leading in some areas. In fact, the European Commission today published a very complimentary report on our management of waste.

Waste Disposal Charges

Brian Stanley

Ceist:

38. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans for the implementation of pay-by-weight bin charges; and the protections that will be in place for low-income households. [6092/17]

I ask the Minister to comment on pay by weight for household refuse disposal, in particular the protections available for low-income households.

The charges applied by waste management companies are a matter for those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with the applicable contract, consumer and environmental legislation. Matters relating to consumer legislation fall under the remit of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

My Department is undertaking a review of pricing structures for household waste collection. This includes the roll-out of pay-by-kilogramme charges which were scheduled during the summer of 2016. The review is also looking at the possible future pricing structures to incentivise the prevention and segregation of household waste. The review will consider more than one form of incentivised pricing structure. This approach will facilitate the service providers in offering all households a range of options to manage and control their waste costs. As with any new initiative, clear and effective communication with households is critical, and it is my intention that a comprehensive awareness and education campaign be rolled out in advance of the introduction of any potential new incentivised pricing system.

All sectors, including businesses, farming and households, need to engage positively in the move towards a resource efficient world. A throwaway culture is no longer sustainable. We will all need to change the way we work, travel, heat our homes, produce our goods and services, prepare our food and dispose of our waste.

Incentivised pricing for domestic waste aims to encourage householders to prevent, reduce and segregate their waste to reduce our impact on the environment and our reliance on landfill waste disposal. Encouraging householders to reduce and recycle waste will be an important initiative in terms of helping to address the landfill capacity emergencies which occurred in 2016 as well as meeting our targets and obligations under current and future EU legislation.

In December, there were suggestions in the media that the Minister was considering scrapping pay-by-weight waste disposal. He has clarified that it has been delayed but will be introduced in mid-2017. Is that correct? In 2016, people entered into agreements with companies at the start of the year and paid up for the year but some of those companies changed the rules halfway through and wanted to move people to pay by weight. There is confusion about what will happen. I believe these matters are better dealt with by local authorities which should be in the driving seat.

The volume of waste is a huge problem and fly tipping has become an epidemic. It is not acceptable for anybody to dump rubbish out of the back of a car or van or any other vehicle. These are normally fairly new vehicles, not bangers. Those are the issues in respect of the timeline and its cost.

Deputy Stanley is right that the local authorities have a crucial role to play in this respect. That is why the waste management planning lead authorities and the enforcement regional lead authorities engage directly with the local authorities about waste.

The Deputy is correct about illegal dumping. That is very frustrating. We have made a specific additional allocation. I will make an announcement later this month dealing specifically with illegal dumping which is taking place throughout the country. The Deputy is right to say it is not necessarily low income households who do this. This irresponsible dumping, no matter who is doing it, is totally unacceptable. I am trying, working with the local authorities and the waste contractors, to put a range of incentivised pricing structures in place. Some will meet the needs of families, some those of older people but there will be a suite of pricing options available.

If I hear the Minister correctly he says he will give more money to the local authorities to help them deal with the problem. In parts of Laois where people used to dump rubbish in ditches and drains they are now dumping it on the hard shoulders. There was a black sack in the middle of the road near Ballybrittas after Christmas.

The best way to help households is to stop the production chain. Pay by weight is a problem for low income households, particularly those who have heavy waste, those where there are young children, disabled people or large families. That has to be factored into any new pricing structure. It is too late if we start with the householder because the packaging has already been produced. We need to deal with the manufacturer, the wholesaler and the retailer in order not to have to bring home packaging. I had to argue with a shopkeeper recently when I bought a pair of shoes. The shopkeeper told me I had to take the box. I did not want the box. All I wanted was the pair of shoes and laces to tie them. I almost had to have an argument to get the shopkeeper to hold on to the box. That is what we need to stop.

Deputy Stanley is perfectly correct about that. We have to work on preventions, and one of the initiatives I want to focus on this year is food waste. There is huge potential to reduce the volumes of food waste.

The Deputy is right about unnecessary packaging. That is the objective of the circular economy. My Department is working with other Departments in the context of the procurement process to consider the whole-of-life cost of a product rather than the point of purchase.

On the broader question of the type of pricing structures, I am very conscious of the issues and that we need to make sure there are pricing schemes in place. This is not a question of tax but of putting a system in place to encourage every household, whether an individual or a large family, to reduce the amount of waste it produces. We hope to have a system to facilitate that.

National Broadband Plan

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

39. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the timeframe and detailed plans for the way in which he will revise the current universal service obligation for telephony services from basic copper telephony to ensure high-speed broadband connectivity is available as an enforceable right to every person and his or her premises throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5827/17]

I wish the Minister well. It is good to see him back on his feet and at his desk.

My question relates to the universal service obligation. Does the Minister have a timeframe and what are his detailed plans for revising the current universal service obligation for telephony services from basic copper telephony to ensure high-speed broadband connectivity and to ensure it is available as an enforceable right?

I thank Deputy Sherlock for his good wishes. The national broadband plan aims to deliver high-speed broadband services to every household, school and business in Ireland. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector, and for those areas that will not be covered by commercial operators, the State has committed to intervene and subsidise a network build in order that nobody, no matter how isolated, is left behind. A formal procurement process is in train to select a company or companies which will roll out a new high-speed broadband network within the State intervention area. The procurement process is being intensively managed to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network that serves homes and businesses across Ireland for at least 25 years. The timeframe for the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team and bidders during the procurement process.

There is no universal service obligation, USO, for high-speed broadband provision or mobile voice services in Ireland. The current EU and national regulatory framework for telecommunications relates solely to voice telephony and functional Internet access, which is 28.8 kilobits per second, kbps, and is provided for under the current EU regulatory framework governing telecoms. In September 2016, the European Commission published an ambitious proposal for the regulation of the European telecoms sector, which aims to incentivise and encourage increased investment in high-speed broadband networks. Negotiations on the review of the EU regulatory framework give Ireland an opportunity to seek inclusion of a USO in respect of high-speed broadband connectivity.

In that regard, I have raised at EU level the issue of a USO for high-speed broadband. I am seeking inclusion of a specific provision in the new framework that would allow member states to apply a USO for high-speed broadband where such networks are available.

My Department is also in discussion with the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, as to whether a USO may be a viable instrument in instances where a high-speed broadband network is available but individual premises cannot access such services at an affordable price.

Is the Minister saying that the Government's position is that it is without ambiguity seeking a USO for all premises and citizens? How many people in the Minister's Department are working on the national broadband plan? The Minister speaks of people being left behind, and across the political landscape we all acknowledge those people, but when will nobody be left behind? What is the reasonable expectation of people who do not have adequate coverage for the roll-out and 100% penetration?

We are seeking a USO because we feel it is probably the most effective way to deal with isolated cases in the blue area relating to the national broadband plan. There are places in Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 that cannot get high-speed broadband. We believe that the only way to enable them to do so is through a USO. We are trying to deal with issues, including those relating to local authorities, as they arise. The issues are not necessarily all on the side of the telecommunications company. The numbers on the national broadband plan vary at different times depending on the volumes of work that exist. We bring in specific contractors. We have seconded staff from some of the other agencies as well to work with us on this. The number varies from time to time. The Deputy asked when people will get broadband. The roll-out of fibre to homes in rural areas has already started. Some of my constituents have told me they have been contacted by some telecommunications operators to offer them fibre broadband with speeds of up to 1 Gbit. That has already started. We intend to fast-track the commercial roll-out in conjunction with the broadband and mobile phone coverage task force to ensure as many households as possible can access a minimum level of service to meet their current needs while fibre broadband is being rolled out to their homes.

I would be very grateful if the Minister could revert to me with an indicative timeframe. It is also important that we know exactly how many staff are working on this important infrastructural project in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Is the Minister planning for a scenario in which litigation is taken by one or more of the potential bidders for the national broadband plan? Is the Department making plans for such a potential scenario as we speak?

My priority and that of the officials in my Department is to roll out as much mobile, wireless, fixed-line or fibre broadband as we can as quickly as possible. We are facilitating the commercial operators in doing that. We are pushing the national broadband plan as far as we can. We are working closely with the three preferred bidders and the European Commission on the communications and competition sides. They are fully conscious of all the issues involved here. We have received our own internal legal advice on this matter. We are conscious of the need to be careful in everything we do in this regard. There is always a risk that one of the unsuccessful bidders could take legal action in the future. We are trying to ensure any case that arises in the future does not hold up the roll-out of the network. We are also seeking to ensure we will be able to defend any such case. This is a very complex process. The contract runs to 2,000 pages. Therefore, I cannot give a definitive timeline at the moment.

Before we move on to Other Questions, I believe I speak on behalf of all Members of the House in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, back to Leinster House and in saying that he is looking well after his recent accident. We wish him well.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I remind Deputies that we are running approximately 15 minutes late. I am anxious to accommodate all Members.

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