Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 February 2026
140. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will engage directly with service providers, including Eir, regarding internal policies or procedural barriers that may be preventing or delaying connections to homes and estates, including situations where the objection of a single neighbouring property can impede broadband access for multiple households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15266/26]
View answerWhere network deployment is delayed by an objection from a neighbouring property owner, this is a matter between the operator and the parties involved. My Department has no legislative power to compel access across private property for commercial network roll-out.
The Department maintains ongoing and regular engagement with commercial operators, to monitor the progress of their gigabit broadband network upgrades. This data complements the analysis and proactive monitoring conducted by the Department and informs policy development to address those locations where network may not be upgraded to gigabit broadband services by 2028.
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 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.
