Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
534. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if his attention has been drawn to delays in providing fibre broadband in an estate (details supplied); the actions he will take to engage with a provider to ensure that this issue is progressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71818/25]
View answerThe estate referred to in the question is in the BLUE area on the broadband map which is available on www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/.
The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high-speed broadband services. The Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload.
The activities of commercial operators delivering high-speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and the Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard.
As per information available at https://bbchecker.comreg.ie/ the estate in question is currently capable of receiving High-Speed Broadband from open eir’s local High Speed Broadband cabinet.
As per information available at www.openeir.ie/fibre/broadband-checker the estate is also included in open eir Full Fibre deployment programme.
If a person lives in the BLUE area and after contacting their Retail Service Provider are told they cannot get access to greater than 30Mbps, they should raise a query via the Department’s webform which can be accessed by clicking on “contact us” in the Contact section on www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/ and the department will escalate with the commercial operator to investigate this matter further.
The Department is aware of some evidence emerging, based on conversations with ComReg and commercial operators, that a portion of premises that do not form part of the intervention area may prove not to be commercially viable in terms of being connected to a gigabit network by 2028. The Department are currently investigating reasons for why such instances may arise with a view to identifying solutions.
