636. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if National Broadband Ireland will contact a person (details supplied) regard connecting their residence to the fibre line that runs by the residence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64614/26]

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the Government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland.

The Government identified a need to deliver broadband services where commercial operators would not operate. As part of the NBP, the Government appointed National Broadband Ireland to deliver wholesale broadband services to those parts of the country, not served by commercial operators. The Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload.

The premises in question is in the BLUE area on the broadband map which is available on https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/ and is currently capable of receiving speeds in excess of 30Mbps from open eir’s local High Speed Broadband cabinet per information available at https://bbchecker.comreg.ie/.

The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high-speed broadband services.

Under EU State Aid rules, the government is legally prohibited from using public money to compete with private companies in Blue areas. This means National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is restricted by law to operate only in Amber areas where no commercial service exists.

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 told 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 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.