Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

101. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the work that her Department has undertaken to ensure greater connectivity between rural and urban communities in terms of local community groups and connected hubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53101/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Our Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy was launched in early 2021. The policy recognises that high quality digital connectivity offers an unprecedented opportunity to transform rural Ireland as well as the potential of remote working hubs to act as key economic assets for Ireland's towns and villages.

Initial access to broadband for many of our most remote rural communities is being provided through the rollout of approximately 300 community-based Public Broadband Connection Points (BCPs). My department is working closely with officials at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and local authorities to establish the nationwide network of BCPs. BCPs are publicly accessible facilities, typically community centres and sports clubs, in predominantly rural and isolated areas. These facilities offer onsite internet access for a variety of community uses, including skills training and STEM activities for children and young people, eHealth initiatives and remote working. 282 of 300 BCP sites are now live, with the remainder scheduled for completion this year.

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

In May 2021 I launched the Connected Hubs network together with the connectedhubs.ie platform. The Network includes a range of digital hubs that caters for a wide variety of remote and co-working needs. The Connected Hubs platform offers a suite of booking, hub management and e-commerce applications to members of the Network.

The Network also facilitates the sharing of innovation, experience and best practices across the community, leading to collaboration and knowledge dissemination between urban and rural hubs and BCPs. This partnership between cities, towns and villages has had a transformative impact on all involved.

To date, approximately 295 hubs from across the country have joined the Connected Hubs Network. This number is growing all the time meaning we are well on track to meet our target of 400 remote working hubs nationwide by 2025.

Our Rural Future commits to investing significantly in remote working infrastructure to provide an opportunity for more people to live in rural communities regardless of where their employer is located. To date over €100 million has been invested by my department in the development of remote working facilities through programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. Successful projects are developed in collaboration with local authorities and communities with many projects seeing vacant and derelict buildings in rural towns and villages converted into remote working hubs.

This includes an allocation of approximately €14 million in funding to almost 200 initiatives via the Connected Hubs 2021 and 2022 calls. Connected Hubs funding calls were open to all hubs (both urban and rural) irrespective of where they were in the country - this allowed for additional remote working capacity to be added to digital hubs and BCPs nationwide. A list of successful applicants is available on my Department's website.

The dataset drawn from the National Hubs Network will contribute to future decisions pertaining to the location and model of remote working hubs that will be funded by my Department through such schemes.

To date my focus has been on establishing the National Hub Network and the BCP network and on achieving the initial critical mass. Following strong progress on the establishment phase of both projects, my focus has now shifted to the next stage of development. To this end, my officials have been consulting with hub managers across the country, with local authorities and communities, and with other stakeholders, to better inform the future strategic direction of the National Hub Network, the connectedhubs.ie platform and the BCP program.

By acting as a locus for sustainable economic activity and local job opportunities, and by supporting place-making through the provision of educational services and cultural and recreational amenities, digital hubs and BCPs can help to drive both urban and rural regeneration.

Therefore I am committed to continuing my Department's support for the development of remote working hubs and BCPs in recognition of the vital role that they can play in our post-COVID recovery.