Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
557. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to examine when a location (details supplied) will get access to full fibre broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28556/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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.
The premises in 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.
If a person lives in the BLUE area and after contacting their Retail Service Provider are advised they cannot get access to greater than 30Mbps, they should raise a query by clicking on “contact us” in the Contact section on https://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 premises in question is currently capable of receiving 68 Mbps from open eir’s local high-speed broadband cabinet per information available at https://bbchecker.comreg.ie/.
The premises is also included in open eir’s Full Fibre to the Home (FTTH) deployment programme per information available at https://www.openeir.ie/fibre/broadband-checker. The Department does not have sight of information that provides an estimated timeline of when commercial operators will provide a full fibre connection to the area, other than what’s on the open eir messaging.
