Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2020
40. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications the areas in County Monaghan that will be serviced by the national broadband plan in 2020 and 2021; the number of dwellings that will be encompassed in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27539/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract signed last November 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 nearly 540,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools.
The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500Mbps from the outset. This represents an increase from the 150Mbps committed to under the Contract. The deployment plan forecasts premises passed 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. Design work is complete or ongoing in target townlands across 23 counties and steady progress is being made with over 98,000 premises surveyed as of the 29 September. This activity is increasing week on week and by year end, NBI expects to have completed some 120,000 surveys. This survey work is feeding into detailed designs for each deployment area and laying fibre should commence shortly with the first fibre to the home connections expected around December. The number of premises surveyed in Monaghan to date is 4,355 with surveyors working in areas such as Cornacassa, Cortolvin, Ballybay, and Stranooden. Other areas which will be surveyed shortly include Mullinahinch, Bellanode, Drumhilock, Tydavnet, Cloughnart, Scotstown and Killymarley. 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. Some 155 BCP sites have been installed by NBI to date 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 available sites and by the Department of Education and Skills for schools. In Monaghan, Drumcorrin and Drumgossatt National School will be connected for educational access as part of this initiative, while the public will be able to benefit from this service at locations across the county such as Corduff, Corcaghan, Mullyash, Saint Alphonsus Community Centre, Monaghan GAA centre of Excellence as well as Geraldines GAA Club, Carn and Latton Resource Centre. Further details can be found at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/. While substantial progress has been made to date, the Covid 19 pandemic has had an impact on the delivery of the fibre network. The extent of this impact is currently being assessed and NBI has committed to put in place measures to mitigate the impact in as far as possible. The Covid 19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of good reliable broadband to ensure that citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities. This is reflected in the commitments in the Programme for Government where delivery of the National Broadband Plan will be a key enabler to many of the policies envisaged particularly around increased levels of remote working. The Programme for Government has committed to seek to accelerate the roll out of the National Broadband Plan. In this regard, my Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this rollout to establish the possibility of bringing forward premises which are currently scheduled in years 6 and 7 of the current plan to an earlier date. Exploring the potential to accelerate the network rollout is being undertaken in parallel with the measures required to mitigate delays arising as a result of Covid-19.
