Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 June 2026
102. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the number of premises in County Kildare that remain without access to high-speed broadband; the areas affected; the anticipated rollout timeline for those locations under the National Broadband Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44245/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra103. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the number of broadband connection orders placed, completed and awaiting completion in County Kildare under the National Broadband Plan; and if he will provide a breakdown by electoral area. [44246/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra104. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether his Department has identified any broadband coverage blackspots in south Kildare where residents and businesses continue to experience inadequate connectivity despite existing rollout programmes; and if he will outline any measures being taken to address those deficiencies. [44247/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 102, 103 and 104 together.
The 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 County Kildare, a significant investment of €53 million is being made under the NBP. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) have advised that there are over 14,120 premises including homes, farms and businesses passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and 14,657 premises available to order/pre-order, with over 6,540 premises now connected. A further 197 premises are currently in the Network Build in Progress stage.
Deployment Areas (DAs) in Kildare are Ballylinan (1,523 premises), Baltinglass (1,216 premises), Blessington (2,453 premises), Carlow (326 premises), Curragh Camp (3,637 premises), Donadea (3,200 premises), Dunboyne / Clonee (780 premises), Edenderry (851 premises), Hill of Down (337 premises), Portarlington (531 premises).
All DAs in County Kildare are at Available to Order / Pre- Order stage.
NBI does not provide fibre broadband services directly to end users. Instead, NBI enables connectivity through a wide range of broadband providers, known as Retail Service Providers (RSPs). The Fibre-to-the-Home network is made available on an open-access basis to all RSPs operating via the NBI Network. A full list of participating retail broadband providers is available on the NBI website at nbi.ie. NBI does not publish data on orders placed by individual RSPs, nor does it disaggregate connection figures by electoral area. However, the NBI website is regularly updated with the overall number of live connections, reflecting orders that have been successfully fulfilled.
Details are available on specific areas within County Kildare which can be monitored via https://nbi.ie/reps/. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries. It should be noted that NBI provide this information for County Kildare based on NBI deployment areas rather than exact county boundaries.
Alongside the NBP intervention contract, commercial operators continue to upgrade their networks throughout the State to primarily urban areas and contribute materially to achieving the Digital Connectivity Strategy targets. Commercial operators have indicated that their networks will be upgraded to all urban areas by 2028.
Open eir have already passed over 74,320 premises across County Kildare while SIRO and Virgin Media have passed over 45,210 and 54,300 premises respectively for full fibre in County Kildare.
