Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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265. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to provide remote working equipment and facilities at locations (details supplied); if funding is available to those locations to purchase e-working equipment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16260/21]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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266. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she plans to provide remote working equipment and facilities at locations (details supplied); if funding is available to those locations to purchase e-working equipment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16263/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 265 and 266 together.

The facilities referred to by the Deputy form a network of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) across the country.  Approximately 300 BCPs will be fully connected this year.

BCPs provide on-site high-speed broadband access to the public in areas that currently do not have adequate broadband services. They are primarily based in remote and rural locations, including on a number of our off-shore islands.

The BCP programme was initially designed as a WiFi-only service, to be supported until the areas they are located in are connected to fibre-to-the-premises services under the National Broadband Plan rollout.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many communities to re-evaluate the potential of the connectivity being provided to BCPs and has driven a significant shift towards facilitating remote working at BCPs.  My Department welcomes this shift and has made a number of changes to the BCP programme to support the BCPs.

Under the 2020 Town and Village Renewal Scheme, some €780,000 was invested by my Department in BCPs across the country.  In the majority of cases, funding was provided to cover equipment, furniture and other purchases necessary to support remote working at the sites.  

An additional €5 million has been allocated to my Department under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme this year to support BCPs and hubs across the State to add remote working capacity.  I will be announcing details of this €5 million programme shortly.