Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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659. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to provide, on a county-by-county basis, in tabular form, the funding provided for community hubs in 2023. [8037/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our Rural Future recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing a comprehensive and integrated national network of 400 remote working hubs over the lifetime of the policy. There are currently 346 remote and co-working facilities across the country on-boarded to the Connected Hubs platform.

My Department has invested significantly in the establishment and development of hubs through the range of schemes which make up my Department's Rural Development Investment Programme. This has included funding the development of new hubs under schemes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund.

In 2021 and 2022, I implemented a new targeted scheme to support the development of facilities in hubs across Ireland. €14 million in funding was allocated to some 200 projects via the Connected Hub Calls. The types of facilities developed under this Fund included the provision of additional desk space, privacy booths, technical equipment, meeting facilities and access control.

The attached table provides a breakdown of the funding under the Connected Hubs Calls by county.

Details in relation to projects funded across the schemes operated by my Department are available at www.drcd.gov.ie.

I am committed to ensuring that the National Hub Network initiative will continue to make a central contribution to the achievement of the Government's vision for rural Ireland, as set out in Our Rural Future.

Connectedhubs.ie – Connected Hubs Funding by County