Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
261. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport when the results of his Department’s consultation with broadband providers regarding recognised broadband gaps will be available; and the number of locations estimated to exist. [72792/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland's Digital Connectivity Strategy, published by my Department, sets ambitious targets, which include providing a Gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030.
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 homes, farms, and businesses nationwide, by 2026.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the Government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland and will be delivered through investment by commercial enterprises coupled with intervention by the State in those parts of the country (Intervention Area) where private companies have no plans to invest.
The Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. As there are currently no unaddressed high-speed broadband gaps in the State, the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is on track to ensure all premises have access to high-speed broadband by the end of 2026. Once the NBP is complete we do not anticipate that high-speed broadband gaps will exist.
Along with the NBP intervention contract, progress is being made by commercial operators Open Eir, Virgin Media and Siro in expanding their next generation networks throughout the State in the non-intervention area which is identified by the blue area on the high-speed broadband map ensuring the targets set out in the Digital Connectivity strategy are achieved.
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 location where network may not be upgraded to gigabit broadband services by 2028. The number and scale of these locations is still being investigated, as well as the various causes for why locations and/or specific premises are not being upgraded by the commercial operators. By the end of 2026 the Department expects to have a clearer picture of those locations, i.e. where high-speed broadband is available but where the commercial operator is unlikely to upgrade their network to gigabit broadband.
