Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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636. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the total operational budget committed to the grow remote social enterprise in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56387/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Rural and Community Development does not provide any ongoing operational budget for the Grow Remote organisation.

My Department has provided some non-core funding to Grow Remote under our funding schemes, as follows:

Social Enterprise Supports: The Small Capital Grants Scheme for Social Enterprises was funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund. It provided grants for equipment, repairs or refurbishments to enable social enterprises to improve their service delivery. The scheme was administered on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development by the network of Local Development Companies (LDCs) which are located throughout the country. Under the 2019 Small Capital Grants Scheme for Social Enterprises, €9,000 funding was provided to Grow Remote via Bantry Chamber of Commerce.

Broadband Connection Points: The Broadband Connection Point (BCP) initiative is connecting circa 300 sites across the country with high-speed broadband. The BCP initiative was established to ensure that remote areas, particularly those that are likely to wait longest for connections, are provided with some access to high-speed broadband while waiting for the NBP roll-out to reach them.

BCPs are publicly accessible buildings, such as community centres, sports clubs and libraries that will allow the public to access the internet onsite. They are located in some of the most rural communities throughout each local authority area, including islands off Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Cork.

In 2021, through a BCP thematic pilot programme, Grow Remote were funded €20,000. The purpose of this programme was to systematically support local communities to maximise their engagement and interaction with the BCPs. The project was structured around the creation of localised Grow Remote Chapters at or in close geographical vicinity of BCPs though the delivery of:

- Chapter Lead recruitment

- Chapter Lead training

- Chapter development & support

This project helped to develop communities of remote workers in each area who, in turn, became part of Ireland's wider network of remote workers. This project upskilled local people, by building the skills and knowledge that they need to build and lead a remote worker community. Through this 5 month programme, Grow Remote had engagement from 29 BCP locations and 45 new on boarded chapter members.