Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 February 2022
132. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the present position regarding the roll-out of the national broadband plan in respect of counties Cavan and Monaghan; the further progress that is expected in this roll-out during 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10463/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are over 16,000 premises in County Cavan and over 15,000 premises in County Monaghan in the National Broadband Plan (NBP) Intervention Area that will receive access to high speed broadband under the State led intervention to be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
Government investment in Counties Cavan and Monaghan in the NBP will be in the order of €65 million and €60 million respectively. In County Cavan surveying is complete in the Deployment Areas of Kilnaleck and Cootehill and network build is complete in the Deployment Area of Cavan, with over 10,400 premises surveyed to date and over 3,700 premises now available to order. In County Monaghan surveying is complete in the Deployment Areas of Clones and Carrickmacross, pre-works are underway in the Deployment Area of Emyvale and network build is complete in the Deployment Area of Monaghan, with over 10,600 premises surveyed to date, over 1,300 premises under construction and over 4,300 premises available to order.
In addition to the challenges to the delivery of the NBP due to the Covid-19 pandemic, NBI has faced a range of other challenges due to the sheer scale and complexity of rolling out fibre to the home in a rural environment. These include significant tree trimming to ensure cable can be placed on overhead poles, remediation of ducting that has been in place for many decades, the co-ordination of hundreds of contracting crews and addressing the many issues arising week on week which could not have been foreseen until the build crews commenced work on the ground. My Department has worked closely with NBI to put in place a remedial plan under the Contract. This plan addresses delays experienced by NBI, primarily arising as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and re-baselines milestones for 2021. Work is underway to re-baseline milestones for 2022 and beyond. This has resulted in some changes to timeframes for connection for end users.
NBI has implemented a number of measures to help lessen the impact that these challenges have had on the rollout including:-
- Increasing the rate of pole replacement and duct remediation per month;
- Bringing in additional NBI resources;
- Earlier procurement of material used in the build stages; and
- Bringing in additional subcontractors
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 11 February 2022, some 12 sites are installed in Cavan and 14 sites in Monaghan. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.
In County Cavan 10 schools have been installed by NBI to date for educational access, with 11 installed in County Monaghan. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
