Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
53. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the position regarding the roll-out of the national broadband plan in County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52786/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraWill the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment outline the position regarding the roll-out of the national broadband plan in County Wexford?
The national broadband plan aims to ensure that every home, school and business in Ireland, regardless of how remote or rural, has access to high-speed broadband. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment throughout Ireland and State intervention in those mostly rural areas where commercial operators acting alone are unlikely to invest.
Since December 2015 the number of premises with access to high-speed broadband in Wexford has increased by over 17,000, a 44% increase. In total, the number of premises in Wexford with access to high-speed broadband is over 58,000, some 71% of the total premises in Wexford. Another 2,300 will be served by Eir's planned rural deployment. The remaining 22,000 homes, schools and businesses in Wexford will be connected under the Government's national broadband plan.
In April 2017 the Department published an updated high-speed broadband map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high-speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State intervention area under the national broadband plan. The map is colour coded and searchable by address or Eircode.
The procurement process to appoint a bidder for the State intervention network is now at the final stage. The priority is to bring the procurement process to a fair and impartial conclusion as quickly as possible. The Department will now conclude its assessment of the final tender submission received from the bidders on 18 September 2018 and a recommendation will be brought to Government in the coming weeks.
I asked the question because of the deep frustration felt by the people in County Wexford in not being able to access fibre broadband in the rural areas. Fibre broadband is crucial to bridging the digital divide between rural and urban Ireland. This affects individuals in their houses, people trying to access information for children who are doing their homework, those applying for medical cards and people trying to set up a business. It affects farming communities who need broadband to develop efficiency in their farms as well as health and safety procedures. Many farmers these days are working alone on farms. They have no one to help them. Having access to broadband allows them to put in place health and safety facilities on their farms.
This is a matter of deep frustration for the people in Wexford and throughout the country. The programme for Government proposes that every house and business is to have broadband by 2020. Can the Minister of State confirm that this is still the plan?
As a Deputy from a rural part of the country, I understand the frustrations. Everyone accepts that broadband is essential, just like water, electricity and sewerage. Broadband is now essential in every home.
The Government commitment is to provide broadband to every house. The tender process is coming to a conclusion. The final evaluation is taking place. It will be concluded in the coming weeks. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, will bring a report to Cabinet once it is completed.
It is my hope that we will reach the targets that we have set out. What we have to do is work towards that. Progress is being made and has been made, but not for everyone and that is the problem. The Deputy will be aware of that. I have set out the figures for Wexford, including the number of houses with access. The percentages have gone up but still we have many people who do not have it. We are trying to fill in these gaps.
The percentages have gone up because of the commercial operators. What I am concerned about is the rural areas where the commercial operators have said they are not going to. The contract or tender was supposed to be signed in summer 2017. That has been set way behind. Does the Minister of State still believe that every house and business in rural Ireland will be connected to broadband by 2020? Is it still on schedule? Does the Minister of State believe it is on schedule or not? The question is very simple.
Let us be exact about it. The final tender bid came in September this year. It is probably one of the largest tenders that we will have in the State for a long time. We want to ensure the evaluation process is correct, value for money is secured and it is a fair contract for everyone. That is the first step. Timing will be part of the tender and roll-out. I am not going to say to Deputy Browne exactly when it will be done until the tender evaluation process is complete and a report is brought to Government, but we will be working towards that and I imagine everyone in the House hopes that will happen.
