2026-01-20

137. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to confirm that the connection timeframes anticipated will be met on the NBI roll-out for deployment areas (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4128/26]

I want to raise with the Minister the roll-out of the national broadband plan in the area west of Macroom - the switches for Carriganimmy, Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh and Dunmanway. They cover large rural areas going from Clondrohid around Cill na Martra, Reananerree, on down towards Cappeen, Kilmichael, Johnstown and out around Togher, Shanacrane, and Doirín na Cathrach. It is a very large rural area and they are keen to get that roll-out advanced as soon as possible.

In December 2022, Ireland's digital connectivity strategy was published, which supports the ambition outlined in the national digital strategy and sets out a number of targets including that all households and businesses will be covered by a gigabit network not later than 2028. The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, published in January 2025, sets a number of targets which include the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including houses, farms and businesses nationwide, by 2026. The NBP is the Government's initiative to deliver high-speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. National Broadband Ireland is connecting approximately 4,500 homes every month. In the Deputy's own county of Cork, NBI has passed 56,360 premises with a high-speed fibre broadband connection and over 58,750 are available to order or pre-order, with 18,996 premises now connected. A further almost 26,600 premises in Cork will be passed by NBI's high-speed fibre broadband by the end of the network deployment. Further details on specific areas within County Cork can be monitored via the NBI's website. The National Broadband Ireland roll-out will include 4,190 premises in Dunmanway, 963 premises in Ballingeary and 3,975 premises in the Carriganimmy deployment area. Network build is in progress for all three of the deployment areas, and all premises in the Dunmanway deployment area will be made available to order or passed in the period July 2026 to September 2026, while the deployment areas of Ballingeary and Carriganimmy will be made available to order or passed in the period October 2026 to December 2026 - so by the end of the year. The latest information on when high-speed broadband will become available can be found on NBI's website. This website is regularly updated and provides the expected timelines for the delivery and status of works in any area.

I fully appreciate that the roll-out of such a large plan has to start somewhere and has to end somewhere. The switches in the Carriganimmy, Ballingeary and Dunmanway area are towards the latter part of the plan. Residents in those areas could reasonably expect that things that would have been learned from the earlier deployments could be put in place to speed up the later deployments, such as in the area west of Macroom. Is that actually being done? Is it possible to get it done faster in the later deployments than in the earlier deployments? For example, people in Ballingeary will have seen the coils of pipes standing there probably for most of the year at this stage, as the deployment has been ongoing there. They have been very patient, perhaps too patient. They want to see more headway on it and to make sure that those timelines are being met. Could the Minister confirm that the deployments will meet the timelines? Is there a way of bringing them forward?

I can confirm that the work is ahead of time. As well as being ahead of schedule, the work is also ahead of budget. When Deputy Moynihan and I first came into the Dáil there was a time when broadband was the be all and end all and came up every second day. You could not stick your head outside the door but someone would take it off over broadband. Thankfully, we made an awful lot of progress. As of 9 January, National Broadband Ireland reports that 62,996 km of cable has been installed. I do not know how far away the moon is from here, but I think it is a couple of times the distance from here to the moon. Some 181,757 poles have been installed. A total of 568,081 premises have been completed. A total of 567,132 premises have been submitted to Open Eir to make ready for works, and 519,013 premises have had Open Eir works completed. An enormous amount of work has been done. Deputy Moynihan answered part of the question earlier: we had to start somewhere and we have to finish somewhere. The Deputy made specific points about Ballingeary and Carriganimmy. I will see if they can be truncated with existing works and I will come back to him on that.

I thank the Minister. He raises a very reasonable point about the way it was when we came in here, when it was a much bigger issue, but for the people in the Ballingeary, Carriganimmy and Dunmanway area, it has continued to be an issue. They were in the later part of the deployment and in fairness to them, they have been very patient. There is a level of frustration and people need to see that headway can now be made, and that possible lessons that would have been learned from earlier parts of the deployment can advance things more quickly in the later part of the deployment. Are they able to get ahead of schedule? Does the Minister have any more details on whether they will release all three switches at the same time or is there a possibility that an issue on any one of those switches could delay the other ones? Principally, people want reassurance and certainty that they are going to get that broadband roll-out over the coming months.

That is no bother. The most important assurances that I can give him is that the work is running 12 months ahead of schedule at the moment nationally, which is a massive achievement for the Government. When this was being done first, certain people in this House and certain commentators in the media said it was an awful waste of money. I do not know where those people are today, but I do not hear them crowing about it today or saying that it was a waste of money. The people in the Deputy's constituency, and in my constituency, which borders it, would say that is far from a waste of money. Those political commentators will have their own day out in the near future when this is completed. I will find out whether the existing works can be truncated. I know from my own constituency that there is always going to be someone at the end of a road where the work stops. In fairness to the contractors working for National Broadband Ireland at the moment, they are all over the country. We pass them everywhere. We see so many of them that they are almost part of the fabric of the local area now. The statistics in relation to this are absolutely phenomenal: 63,000 km of cable laid. That is an absolutely massive feat of engineering. I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics.