127. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department is considering handing the work of rolling out fibre broadband to connectivity blackspots in commercial areas to National Broadband Ireland; if so, the work that has been undertaken by his Department to consider this proposal; if a further tender process is required in the scenario that a public subsidy is necessary to address these blackspots; the analysis that has been conducted by his Department to ensure that any proposal to address these blackspots delivers best value for money to taxpayers; the outcome of this analysis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40857/24]

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. The NBP will be delivered through investment by commercial enterprises coupled with intervention by the State in those parts of the country where private companies have no plans to invest.

The Department is aware of some evidence emerging, based on conversations with ComReg and commercial operators, that a portion of premises that do not form part of the intervention area may prove not to be commercially viable in terms of being connected to a gigabit network by 2028. The Department are currently investigating reasons for why such instances may arise with a view to identifying solutions. However, it is important to note that significant commercial roll-out programmes by Eir, SIRO and VMI are on-going, and the scale of this potential problem can only be established upon completion of those commercial roll-out programmes.

If a portion of premises are identified not to be commercially viable in terms of delivering connectivity to a gigabit network by 2028, the Department will consider a range of options that can address the problem. A decision as to what the right solution/solutions are appropriate will be informed by the nature and scale of the problems identified. Where any of the options considered requires state aid intervention, then EU state aid guidelines would have to be followed to ensure a competitive and fair process, and as such there is no scenario in which this work would be ‘handed over’ to any provider absent following those procedures.

The Department will continue to investigate this issue with relevant stakeholders such as ComReg and commercial operators and it is considering options around potential pilot schemes aimed at informing potential future solutions.