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

I thank the Deputy for raising all of those issues. In terms of town planning, I certainly would encourage a partnership approach to town development. I agree with much of what the Deputy said regarding the need to create more activity in our town centres. The face of shopping is changing and, after the Covid-19 crisis has passed, I think we will find that more and more people are shopping online, which will have a direct, knock-on effect on the retail sector, including town-centre shops. We have been providing online vouchers for businesses right across the country. They can get a grant of €2,500 from the local enterprise office to set up online, and a second grant is also available for this purpose. Retailers should be using all of the supports that are currently available because they can help them to establish a strong online presence while still being able to maintain a presence in the centre of town, which is important.

I have been working through the regional enterprise plans to encourage centre-of-town co-working spaces. There may be opportunities in that regard for old buildings to be renovated and turned into digital hubs. There is no reason that we cannot do these sorts of things. The Department has a guide for town development, combining the retail, business and craft sectors. The chambers of commerce have been very effective in putting together plans around town development. As I said, under the regional enterprise development fund, a number of different grants have been paid out to various areas to set up hubs and co-working spaces. Those initiatives will be even more important as we look at the potential of remote working. It is good to be at home to work for some part of the day, if it suits a person, but I think it is healthier to have co-working spaces. I have been advocating remote working in these areas for some time but, all of a sudden, what was a foreign concept has become a reality. Remote working offers a much better quality of life and is useful in terms of reducing carbon emissions and ensuring people do not have to sit in long commutes. They may be able to walk or cycle to work. We must have a plan in place and really look at how we can improve quality of life for people by bringing the jobs closer to where they live. Remote working will be a game changer in that regard.

Regarding the animation sector in Ireland, having formerly been Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, I am very proud of that extremely successful sector. I led a trade mission last year to the west coast of the United States, which promoted the Irish animation industry. Enterprise Ireland works closely with the sector and Screen Ireland is also involved. The animation industry is a priority under the Creative Ireland programme and the section 481 provisions have been very successful. The regional uplift aspect has been particularly successful, as seen with Troy Studios in Limerick and a number of others. The Deputy mentioned Cartoon Saloon, which is a wonderful company. I was delighted to facilitate some of the meetings which led to the company signing contracts during a trade mission to China. As the Deputy noted, the company is located in the centre of Kilkenny and employs a significant number of people. Thankfully, it has not been impacted by the Covid-19 situation.

Again, we want to see more of those companies and we will do everything we can to support them because they have high-quality jobs, which is what we all want. I thank the Deputy for all of his questions.

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