Galway TD slams slow roll-out of high-speed rural broadband

Galway Bay fm newsroom - A Galway TD says the roll-out of high-speed broadband in rural Ireland has been a disaster - and the Government is only kicking the can down the road.

Deputy Eamon O' Cuiv says it'll be 2023 before more than half a million rural homes and businesses are fully connected under the National Broadband Plan.

Contracts are set to be awarded this year - but Communications Minister Denis Naughten says network roll-out will take a further 3 to 5 years.

There are currently 39 thousand premises across Galway classified as requiring state intervention under the scheme.

It aims to guarantee a minimum connection speed of 30MB - however, many areas in Ireland are still on 2 or 3MB connections.