Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start by providing clarity on the funding. There is €88 million in total, with €53 million for the RRDF, €25 million for the town and village renewal scheme and €10 million for the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. I agree with Deputy Ó Cuiv's point. I understand the needs of people who do not live in villages or towns, the needs of somebody who lives in the heart of a parish in Aghabog, for example, on a farm. I am delighted that my daughter is now building a house on the family farm and will continue that tradition and I want to protect people who want to do that. It is only fair that such people get the services they need including broadband, water and electricity. We have to help them and do so through a number of different schemes, particularly the local improvement scheme, LIS. There is €10 million in the LIS and I have secured an additional €500,000 for next year. That might not sound like a lot but it will assist with those lanes that badly need to be done. I accept what the Deputy said about transport but we do have the Local Link service which helps to connect rural Ireland. We have some very good local services in that regard. I know my own constituency best where a service runs from Cavan to Monaghan five times a day, over and back. It brings young people to institutes of further education and is a fantastic service. We need more of that and we must fund more local public transport services.

I visited Glenasmole with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, recently for the launch of the broadband connection points initiative. There will be 300 such points right across the country. Glenasmole is at the foot of the Dublin mountains. I thought that people living in Dublin had all the broadband they wanted but I discovered that they do not have it out in Glenasmole. When I got there I saw so many similarities to where I live. Sometimes we have the wrong idea in rural Ireland; we think that everyone in Dublin is connected but that is not the case. I take Deputy Paul Donnelly's point about a blend of working from home and from hubs or offices. People need connectivity to link in with their employers but it is also important for their mental health to get out of the house. When people are working from home all day they have a starting time but it can be hard to find a finishing time. It is better for people to be in a work environment that has the right furniture at the right level, the correct lighting and so on. I am concerned that some people who are working from home are sitting on chairs that may cause back injuries or other problems. Companies will be able to come together in these connection point buildings, enabling their employees to work remotely. We must support that, manage it and provide that service because it will make a difference. We have also invested a great deal of money in cycleways and walkways in rural Ireland so even if people live in the countryside they will be able to get on their bicycle and go into the local village to work. This is something to which we should all aspire, namely, people not always needing to use their cars. Often in rural Ireland, people need not one but two cars. The objective is to bring work to communities and by doing so, we will revitalise towns and villages.