Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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732. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the current number of remote working hubs by county; the level of funding allocated to the building of these remote working hubs; and the status of plans to increase the number of remote working hubs. [54104/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Table 1 - National Hubs Mapping Exercise - Digital Hubs Identified by County

Our Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and also the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our rural towns and villages.

In May I launched the National Connected Hubs network together with the connectedhubs.ie platform. This platform will offer a suite of booking, hub management and e-commerce applications to members of the Network. The Network will also facilitate the sharing of innovation, experience and best practices across the community. These supports will serve to maximise benefit to member hubs, hub clients, employers, local communities and the wider economy.

The National Hub Network Working Group led by my Department has so far identified and mapped over 450 remote working hubs across the country. The attached file, which is also available as a map on connectedhubs.ie, includes details of verified hubs by county; all of which will be invited to join the Connected Hubs Network to create shared infrastructure that will deliver real benefits across the country. To date, approximately 150 hubs have joined the Connected Hubs Network, with this number rising on an ongoing basis.

My Department operates a number of funding schemes that focus on projects supporting remote working through the development of hubs, including the development of BCPs as long-term, digitally-enabled community assets.

The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme both support the establishment of new digital hubs. To date, RRDF funding of €67 million has been approved for 44 projects that will develop or deliver Hubs that will provide remote working facilities in rural towns and villages and their outlying areas.

Support for new remote working hubs is also one of the areas being prioritised under my Department's 2021 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. The focus is on establishing new remote working facilities in town and village centres where properties are currently vacant or where existing community/ publicly owned buildings can be repurposed. This call closed to applications on 16 July 2021 and the assessment process is currently underway, with successful projects set to be announced by the end of the year.

In July this year, through the Connected Hubs funding stream, I awarded close to €9 million in funding to over 100 successful applicants. This funding will allow for the expansion of existing hub facilities and remote working infrastructure in digital hubs, including Broadband Connection Points, throughout the country.

The development of a national hubs network is a key commitment in Our Rural Future and I am committed to continuing my Department's support for the development of remote working hubs in recognition of the vital role that they can play in our post-Covid recovery. I am happy to confirm that I have secured additional funding as part of Budget 2022 across the range of services provided by my Department, including for the further support of remote working hubs. Details of calls for applications to relevant funding streams will be announced by my Department in due course.