Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have already spoken to the Minister of State about supports for community centres. Obviously, I welcome the stabilisation fund for those that received a significant amount of funding from Pobal but we need to look at many of these facilities from the point of view of the money that will be lost in the context of the social economy. I know that work-arounds and solutions have been sought through the likes of the Louth Local Community Development Committee but we need to ensure that all these things happen. We are all aware of the fabulous work that was done through community centres and community groups before this period, much of which has continued during this period.

In terms of community development, we need to take a more holistic look at the entire situation. We need to determine what is needed by way of youth services and how they interact with the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána and so on. We often talk about issues within silos and later we talk about community policing. I presume that debate will veer into a discussion of the particular difficulties in urban settings but community development needs to be wedded to the work being done by the Department of Justice and gardaí around things like family intervention, for example. Basically, we need a whole-of-government response.

I agree with others who have spoken about the need for broadband in rural areas. We all wanted and needed high-speed broadband before the pandemic but obviously since then it has become an absolute requirement for individuals and companies. We realise that in some cases, areas will not be reached. We will exert as much pressure as possible on National Broadband Ireland, NBI, to accelerate the roll out. A number of Deputies spoke earlier today at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications Networks and welcomed the fact that NBI will be sharing information and updates as it carries out its work.

At this point in time, National Broadband Ireland has 200 broadband connection points in place. However, a reply I received to a parliamentary question on 30 October indicated that only 59 of the then 187 publicly accessible BCPs were live. When I queried this with National Broadband Ireland, the reply was that it relies on third-party vendors and, to a degree, the Department to ensure the BCPs are rolled out. The company also told me that it was willing to look at further locations, including schools, which would be suitable for the roll-out of remote working hubs. Those hubs are an absolutely fabulous idea but they need to be put in place. There is an opportunity to achieve the best of both worlds out of this initiative.

One of the few wins from the Covid pandemic is the fact that not as many people needed to commute. That is brilliant for people who have access to broadband at a particular level and where it suits them to work from home. However, people still need a social outlet and the wins one only gets from a workplace situation. Remote working hubs can fulfil that purpose by having people from a number of companies, possibly including public service staff, provided with a decent working location and a set-up that includes a broadband connection, suitable workstations and whatever else is necessary. This would allow people to work in Dundalk, for example, instead of having to travel to Dublin. There are huge savings in such an arrangement from a climate change point of view and in terms of work-life balance. Combined with that, people would also have the social outlet of interacting with real people as opposed to occasionally seeing them on Zoom. As we have all discovered in recent times, there are sometimes problems with the audio in online meetings and one cannot hear what is being said.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, need to consider how hubs can be established in areas that are accessible and suitable, particularly in locations where there may be a delay in the roll-out of broadband. There are multiple locations that would meet those criteria. I gave the example of Dundalk, where hubs could be set up in suitable industrial units located near the town. In some instances, we may need to look at locations in town centres. The nature of towns has changed in recent times, with the closure of many businesses. If we could introduce a greater amount of footfall, it would be utterly beneficial for the towns in question. We need to see how this can be done as soon as possible.

As I said, there must be a more holistic approach to the whole area of community development. We need to look at how funding is accessed, whether under the LEADER programme or in terms of the funding for which local authorities apply to different Departments. At this point in time, we need a streamlining of the process. A huge amount of time and many resources are being wasted when public servants have to apply to have applications determined by other public servants. There is a loss of efficiency in the system that needs to be sorted out.

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