Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020
222. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications the number of schools to date connected to broadband connection points as part of the roll out of the national broadband plan; the number to be connected by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35187/20]
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 over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools.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 30 October, some 187 BCP sites have been installed by NBI and 59 of these are now connected with high speed publicly accessible broadband, through a service provider contract managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development.As part of this initiative, some 74 schools will be provided with high speed broadband, for educational use only, through a service provider contract managed by the Department of Education and Skills. My Department will work with Department of Education and Skills to prioritise the remaining schools to be connected over the term of the NBP. To date, 6 schools have been connected with high speed broadband. Based on information available at 4 November, I am advised that the following is the number of schools per county to be connected as part of the BCP initiative.
|
County |
Forecasted No. of Schools BCPs to be connected |
|
Carlow |
2 |
|
Clare |
4 |
|
Cork |
2 |
|
Dublin |
1 |
|
Galway |
10 |
|
Kerry |
3 |
|
Kildare |
2 |
|
Kilkenny |
4 |
|
Laois |
5 |
|
Leitrim |
2 |
|
Limerick |
7 |
|
Longford |
2 |
|
Louth |
2 |
|
Mayo |
1 |
|
Monaghan |
2 |
|
Offaly |
2 |
|
Roscommon |
2 |
|
Sligo |
8 |
|
Tipperary |
2 |
|
Waterford |
5 |
|
Westmeath |
5 |
|
Wicklow |
1 |
|
Total |
74 |
