Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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816. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of digital hubs opened in 2020, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31447/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A broad range of digital hubs currently operate across Ireland, providing diversity in terms of the capacity, scale of facilities, and services they offer. The management and ownership of these hubs varies from privately owned facilities, to those under the responsibility of public bodies, and hubs operated by social enterprises.

There is currently no centralised dataset on the number or type of hubs in operation, or those that have opened in a particular year. However, work is being undertaken to develop such a dataset, led by my Department and the Western Development Commission (WDC).

The WDC has mapped over 100 remote working hubs within the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) region alone, covering the area from Co. Kerry to Co. Donegal. The WDC's objective is to develop these hubs into a cohesive network of facilities in the AEC region for remote workers, students and for community use. The AEC hub network will include a common booking engine for clients, and collaboration tools to facilitate cross-network engagement between both managers and clients in the hubs.

The WDC has also developed a classification model for hubs which codifies hubs in terms of their services, clientele and mission. This classification model will allow the further development of quality standards and developmental pathways for hubs in the ecosystem.

In addition, more than 300 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) will be connected in remote rural areas across the country over the coming months to provide public access to free high speed broadband services and these BCPs are also being mapped as part of the WDC’s work. More than 50 BCPs are already connected.

An Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, has been convened to investigate the feasibility of mapping and developing a national network of remote working facilities, including hubs, BCPs and libraries, based on the model developed in the AEC region.

An additional €5 million has also been allocated to my Department in Budget 2021 to support the development of this national hubs network, as well as to upgrade existing facilities throughout the country.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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817. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the way in which the €5 million in the budget for town and village hubs will be deployed to assist 2020 students participate in third level education remotely. [31771/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The ecosystem of hubs and other facilities throughout the country offering hot-desk facilities are a significant support to both remote workers and students at the present time.

These facilities cover the spectrum from fully commercially-operating business models, to public sector and social enterprise hubs.

The Western Development Commission (WDC) has mapped over 100 remote working hubs within the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) region alone, covering the area from Co. Kerry to Co. Donegal. The WDC's objective is to develop these hubs into a cohesive network of facilities in the AEC region for remote workers, students and for community use. The AEC hub network will include a common booking engine for clients, and collaboration tools to facilitate cross-network engagement between both managers and clients in the hubs.

In addition, more than 300 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) will be connected in remote rural areas across the country over the coming months to provide public access to free high speed broadband services. These BCPs will also provide capacity for remote working and students in rural areas. More than 50 BCPs are already operational.

My Department has invested significantly in remote working facilities over the last number of years through programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Libraries programme.

The additional €5 million allocated to my Department in Budget 2021 will be used to build on the AEC hub network model and support the development of a national network of remote working hubs, as well as upgrading existing facilities throughout the country. An Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, has been convened to progress this project.