Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To follow on from that point, I believe it is going to be about blended working into the future. As somebody with three young kids, it is quite difficult to work at home at times. To get into one of these hubs could be quite beneficial for many people. I speak to constituents, particularly many of those working with multinational companies, who might not have to travel to the US or wherever they are going as often as they would if they had access to that high-speed broadband we are talking about.

I also welcome the connected hubs initiative and the additional funding for that, which will facilitate remote working not just for employees but it will also attract employers to areas they might not have previously considered locating. All this talk about broadband and hubs is contingent on getting broadband into these communities. Ahead of the full implementation of the NBP, which is now five years away, we need to endeavour to do all we can for these isolated communities.

Finally, we only have one such hub in my own constituency. People think of my constituency as predominantly urban but we also have many rural villages. It extends almost as far as Mallow and up to Deputy Sherlock's area. He can speak for areas such as Burnfort and Mourneabbey, which are rural as well. We need greater emphasis on those hubs in my area of Cork.

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