A total of €86 million has been pledged to implement Limerick's National Broadband Plan (NBP).

Work is also progressing with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to sign a contract for the works, ahead of a proposed date in mid-September.

If agreed, the deal will see NBI roll-out high-speed broadband to over 21,000 premises in a rural area of Limerick. Areas set to benefit include Castletown, Loghill, Carrigkerry and Ballyorgan.

The scheme will create equal opportunities for people in both rural and urban communities to access information, education and to benefit from the digital economy.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hopes the first homes will be passed and connected by early autumn next year once the contract is closed.

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Welcoming the progress on the plan, NBI Chief Executive Peter Hendrick said: "Last week some members of the team met with regional service providers, including several from Limerick, for information briefings about how their businesses can integrate with the NBP. We have also initiated a regional communications campaign to ensure local media and public representatives are provided with up to date and important information regarding the project, to ensure they can deliver that to the public. We look forward to engaging with local communities in the future once the contract is signed and we start our work across Ireland."

Limerick native Donal Hanrahan, Head of Development, NBI, added: "In addition to the €86 million we will be investing in Limerick, we will also be creating 2,000 jobs across rural Ireland with the national roll-out of broadband, which will be a substantial boost to the local economies. Access to broadband will also create secondary employment to existing local business and enterprises which have been struggling to compete in the current digital economy."

(CM/JG)