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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The increased shift to remote work in the past six months as a result of Covid-19 has given us the opportunity to reimagine the possibilities for a greater regional distribution of jobs and to support better quality of life for many who previously spent many hours on long commutes. Remote working has the potential to transform rural areas, allowing people to build careers in good-quality jobs while continuing to live closer to home. It also provides an opportunity for those who moved away from home for work reasons to return to their roots to raise their families.

Since 2019, my Department has been working with the Western Development Commission, WDC, to build an integrated network of remote working hubs along the Atlantic economic corridor, AEC, from Kerry to Donegal. The WDC has identified and mapped more than 100 remote working hubs that serve that region. The approach to building this network and shared back-office services will serve as a model that can be replicated in other parts of the country. Budget 2021 allocated an additional €5 million to my Department to support the expansion of the AEC hub network model into a national initiative. An interdepartmental working group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, has been convened to make progress on this work. My Department invests significantly in remote working facilities through programmes such as the town and village renewal scheme, the rural regeneration and development fund and the libraries programme.

See this speech in context