Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2026
298. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he can outline the deployment areas that remain to be upgraded in Cork as part of the National Broadband Plan; if all areas will be completed by the end of 2026 as per the contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46458/26]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the Government initiative to deliver high-speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. In addition, Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy published in December 2022, sets out a number of targets including that all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028.
In the Deputy’s own county of Cork, a significant investment of €314 million is being made under the NBP. There are 62,575 premises passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and 72,435 premises available to order/pre-order, with over 21,430 premises now connected. A further circa 20,425 premises in County Cork will be passed by National Broadband Ireland’s (NBI) high speed fibre broadband by the end of the network deployment.
NBI have advised that County Cork comprises of 28 Deployment Area’s (D.A) of which 25 are now available to order/pre-order. The D.A. of Dunmanway (4,195 premises will be made available to order/pre-order in the period July 2026 to September 2026 and the D.A.’s of Ballingeary (963 premises) and Carriganimmy (3,974 premises) will be made available to order/pre-order in the period October 2026 to December 2026.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Cork which can be monitored via the National Broadband Ireland website. This website is regularly updated providing the expected timeline for delivery and status of any works that are initiated at any point in time. National Broadband Ireland also has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
Along with the NBP intervention plan, progress is being made by commercial operators in expanding their next generation networks throughout the country including the deputy’s own county of Cork ensuring the targets set out in the Digital Connectivity Strategy are achieved. These plans will see improved high speed broadband access across County Cork.
