The Government has moved to clarify which department will oversee the rollout of rural broadband amid confusion over where the responsibility lies.
Minister for Communications Denis Naughten confirmed his department, which has managed the project up until now, would continue to oversee the procurement process.
However, he said once the contracts are in place rollout of the scheme would be supervised by the newly configured Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht, under the stewardship of Heather Humphreys.
Mr Naughten defended the Government’s “twin-track approach”, saying tat the weight of two Government departments would accelerate the plan, which has been billed as a remedy to the State’s broadband woes.
He also said that his department would develop proposals for a new entity to manage the State’s broadband contracts from now on.
In announcing his new Cabinet earlier this month, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said responsibility for the Government’s much-publicised initiative would now fall under the remit of Ms Humphreys’ expanded department.
Confusion
Since then, however, neither her department nor Mr Naughten’s have been clear on their involvement, leading to confusion about where ultimate responsibility lay.
Under the new arrangements, Mr Naughten said, the Department of Regional Development would establish a series of county or regional broadband taskforces, which would interface with local agencies to fast-track the plan.
These taskforces will develop strategies to ensure that planning permissions and road openings can be processed quickly and to identify priority areas and regional hubs.
A national mobile phone and broadband taskforce is also to be established to consider more immediate measures to alleviate broadband and mobile phone service "deficits" which are frustrating communities and businesses across rural Ireland.
"This process is already commenced and is well under way and I expect interested companies to be shortlisted as bidders in the next month. I intend to have a contract or contracts signed by June 2017," Mr Naughten said at an event in Grange National School, Co Roscommon.
“The network will be expected to serve at least 30 per cent of the premises in Ireland who cannot currently get access to high-speed services,” the Minister said.
The Department of Communications announced a six-month delay to the plan last month, citing the complexity of the tender, meaning that the scheme will now not be in place until at least 2022.
