Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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859. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which she and her Department continue to encourage the formation of digital hubs in order to enable those enterprises that can be accommodated offsite to participate fully in the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28220/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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860. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of digital hubs or enterprise parks throughout the country to which she and her Department have contributed by way of financial or other assistance; the extent to which such operations have provided for alternative workspace for small and large companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28221/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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862. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the degree to which she and her Department have provided funding or advice to assist in the development of alternative work spaces in order to ensure an even spread of the population throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28223/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 859, 860 and 862 together.

Our Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing a comprehensive and integrated network of remote working hubs over the lifetime of the policy to 2025.

In furtherance of this commitment, my Department continues to focus on adding capacity across the country including via a range of schemes including the development of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) as long-term, digitally-enabled community assets.

To date my Department has invested some €100m in the development of remote working facilities across a range of schemes. 

In May 2021, I launched the National Hub Network - connectedhubs.ie.  The National Hub Network currently comprises 236 remote and co-working facilities across the State. These facilities have been onboarded to connectedhubs.ie, the shared online booking and payments platform for member hubs and their users. The network includes a diverse range of hubs, services and facilities, thus facilitating companies of different sizes. It is expected that, in time, the National Hub Network and the connectedhubs.ie platform will include more than 400 facilities.

In July 2021, I allocated almost €9 million through the 2021 Connected Hubs Fund, which was shared between more than 100 hubs and BCPs, to add capacity and improve the quality of existing remote working facilities across the country. 

In December 2021, a call for applications under the RRDF was announced. The fourth call for Category 1 applications closed on the 29th April 2022. To date RRDF has provided €76m in funding to remote working facilities. 

In February of this year I announced almost €18.5m for projects under the 2021 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. This included support for 28 projects related to remote working and hubs. I have also recently launched the 2022 Town and Village Renewal Scheme, which will again include an opportunity for the funding of projects that repurpose vacant buildings as remote working hubs. 

Also in February of this year, I launched the 2022 Connected Hubs Call, allocating a further €5 million in funding to add additional capacity to the existing remote working infrastructure in remote working hubs and Broadband Connection Points throughout the country. The evaluation process has concluded and I will be announcing the successful applicants very shortly.

The attached table provides a breakdown of current and pending connectedhubs.iefacilities by county.

This year I have included a new Building Acquisition Measure as part of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to support local authorities to purchase vacant and derelict buildings in 2022 for future development as community facilities, including remote working.

To date my focus has been on establishing the network and on achieving this initial critical mass. Following strong progress on the establishment phase of the project, my focus has now shifted to the next stage of development.

I have been clear throughout my tenure as Minister for Rural and Community Development that balanced regional development, sustainable and thriving communities, and indeed the wider national economy will all benefit from workers and employers embracing the remote working revolution.

I pleased to say that the connectedhubs.ieteam have for some time been developing a corporate service to engage with and support corporate clients interested in using our nationwide network to accommodate their employees, but also to gain access to the vast pool of talent that Ireland has to offer, whether those talented people live in our cities, towns, villages or rural parishes. I believe that this work represents significant opportunities for employers of all sizes to leverage the National Hub Network directly.

I am committed to ensuring that the National Hub Network will continue to make a central contribution to the achievement of the Government's vision for rural Ireland, as set out in Our Rural Future.

TABLE 1 – Connectedhubs.ie - Remote Working Hubs by County (as of the 23rd May 2022)