Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry I was not present for the presentation but I watched it in my office. Ms Keogh knows who I am because my good friend, Mary Fahey in Portumna, has done a great deal of work on remote working. This week we were about to run it out of my office in the hub in Portumna. Ms Fahey is also a Grow Remote chapter leader.

I am well versed in Grow Remote. I once mentioned it on "The Tonight Show", and it is my most retweeted comment. People who are in on this understand what it is about and they see the value in it, but we have to assist in getting the word out about it and how it works. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, rightly said that we have to encourage communities to work together. This is about people who do not want to be in their offices or homes day in and day out because of the loneliness attached to it. Employers take comfort in the fact there is communal working taking place.

In regard to LEADER funding, is there capacity for funding under this scheme to be ring-fenced for the conversion of buildings by the chapters, because this is a growing entity? In Galway, the Abbey community was awarded €50,000 under the town and villages renewal scheme to convert its community centre into a digital hub to facilitate people from that area. As we know, there are broadband blackspots in Ballinakill, but that does not preclude people travelling five miles to work in this facility. In areas where, in the chapters' experience, there are suitable properties to develop this community experience, chapters could be the lever in accessing funding under LEADER to deliver them.

Ms. Keogh's background is in Grow Remote but I assume she works for an industry or an organisation.