Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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33. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she is considering extending the provisions in the status of the Our Rural Future - Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 with regard to revitalising rural towns and villages; the measures that have been implemented to cover urban villages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27990/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our Rural Future was launched in March 2021 and sets out the Government's blueprint for the development of rural Ireland over the next five years. It is supported by 150 commitments across Government, which will address the challenges facing communities and deliver new opportunities for people living in rural areas.

The policy will support the regeneration, repopulation and development of rural towns and villages to contribute to local and national economic recovery, and to enable people to live and work in a high quality environment.

The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) is a major programme which seeks to support large-scale, ambitious projects which can achieve sustainable economic and social development in rural areas. Administered by my Department, it has provided over €249 million for 164 projects across Ireland, to deliver projects worth a total of €338 million. The focus of RRDF is on rural towns with a population of less than 10,000 people and, as such, urban villages located within the main cities would not come under its remit.

However, the type of investment referred to by the Deputy may be eligible under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It aims to deliver more compact and sustainable development, by part-funding regeneration and rejuvenation projects in Ireland’s five cities and other large towns. Currently, the URDF part-funds 87 projects across the country.

An important feature of Our Rural Future is its commitment to produce annual work programmes. These will detail elements for delivery each year, which will be developed through ongoing consultation and engagement with rural stakeholders and colleagues across Government.

These annual work programmes will provide the opportunity for the addition of new measures or the further extension or expansion of existing measures.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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35. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the way in which communities can make submissions as part of Our Rural Future - Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 towards creating digital hubs and shared workspaces; the funding and assistance being put in place by her Department in this regard; the awareness campaigns that are being planned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26789/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The increased shift to remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity for a greater regional distribution of jobs and to support a better quality of life for many people who previously spent many hours in long commutes. This is a key focus of the Government's new rural development policy Our Rural Future.

Remote working, supported by appropriate infrastructure and facilities, has the potential to encourage more people to live in rural areas while working in good quality jobs, no matter where their employer is based. It can also help revitalise our rural town if remote working hubs are developed in their centres. There is also significant scope to leverage existing and future hub developments to support a reduction in commuting and a shift to active transport solutions.

Building on an initiative by the Western Development Commission in developing a network of remote working and co-working hubs along the western seaboard, an Inter-Departmental Working Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, was established last October to oversee the development of a National Hub Network.

In addition to the supports and tools being developed under the National Hub Network programme, I have allocated €5 million to fund a Connected Hubs Call under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme this year. This initiative will provide funding to support small scale capital works in existing hubs, both public and private, and Broadband Connection Points. Details of the Connected Hubs Call were announced on Thursday April 29th and are available at: www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/d916d7-digital-initiatives-schemes/#connected-communities-initiative.

My Department also continues to invest significantly in the development of new Hub facilities across the country. Since 2015, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme has provided €7.8m in funding to hubs and hub-related projects. Many of the successful projects involve the regeneration of historic town centre buildings as Enterprise and Co-Working Hubs. I announced a further call for proposals under the Town and Village Scheme on the 3rd of May. Further details are available at: www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/01125e-town-and-village-renewal-scheme/

In addition to funding through the Town and Village Scheme, €65m has also been invested in hub projects through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund since 2018. A further call for projects under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund will issue later this year.