Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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638. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the cumulative budget allocated to the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme from 2017 to 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56389/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as trails, walkways, cycleways, blueways and bridleways in rural areas.

The measures being funded under this year’s Scheme are:

Measure 1: Small Scale Repair/Development/Promotion and Marketing (up to €30,000)Measure 2: Medium Scale Repair/Upgrade and New Trail/Amenity Development (up to €200,000)Measure 3: Strategic Large Scale Repair/Upgrade and New Strategic Trail/Amenity Development (up to €500,000)Project Development Measure: Development costs for Strategic large Scale Projects (up to €500,000).

Since the formation of my Department in 2017, funding of over €85 million has been approved for more than 1,300 projects under the Scheme. I have set out in the table below detail of annual funding allocated over this period.

Allocations under measures 2 and 3 of the 2022 Scheme will be announced in the coming weeks.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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639. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the cumulative budget allocated to the town and village renewal scheme connected hubs call from 2017 to 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56390/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our Rural Future (2021-2025), Ireland’s Rural Development Policy was launched in early 2021. The policy recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our rural towns and villages.

My Department operates a number of funding schemes that support projects that facilitate remote working through the development of digital hubs, including the development of Public Broadband Connection Points (BCPs).

In May 2021 I launched the National Hubs Network together with its online platform, connectedhubs.ie, provides users with information on the location of, and facilities available at, remote working and enterprise hubs throughout Ireland. The platform offers a suite of booking, hub management and e-commerce applications to members of the Network. It also facilitates the sharing of innovation, experience and best practices across the community. These supports serve to maximise benefit to member hubs, hub clients, employers, local communities and the wider economy.

To date, approximately 295 hubs 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.

To date over €100 million has been invested by my Department in the development of remote working facilities, through programmes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. 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.

In 2021, for the first time the Rural Development Investment Programme’s Town and Village Renewal Scheme included a Connected Hubs Call in support of the National Hub Network initiative. The overall aim of the fund was to enable successful applicants develop and leverage the capacity and quality of Ireland's existing remote working infrastructure across the country. In 2021 almost €9 million in Connected Hubs funding was awarded to 118 successful applicants. A further €5 million in Connected Hubs 2022 funding was allocated to 81 successful applicants across the country. A full list of successful applicants is available via gov.ie (www.gov.ie/en/collection/49822-2021-connected-hubs-fund-successful-applicants/).

To date my focus has been on establishing the Connected Hub Network and 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 and the connectedhubs.ie platform.

I am also pleased to say that the connectedhubs.ie team 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 a significant opportunity for employers of all sizes to leverage the National Hub Network directly.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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640. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the cumulative budget allocated to the town and village renewal scheme - streetscapes from 2017 to 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56391/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) is part of a range of measures to support the revitalisation of rural Ireland. The Scheme is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of “Our Rural Future”, and is administered on behalf of my Department by the local authorities. Since the introduction of the Scheme in 2016, almost €120 million has been approved for more than 1,400 projects across the country. It has supported a range of activities from improving public realm areas to initiatives such as the development of enterprise hubs and remote working facilities. These projects have been identified and developed by local community groups and businesses, in conjunction with their local authorities.

In August 2021, I introduced a new Streetscape Enhancement Measure under the TVRS which aims to improve the visual appearance of streetscapes in our rural towns and villages, and make them more attractive places to live, work and visit. This funding helped to improve the visual appearance of towns and villages the length and breadth of the country. In August of this year, I allocated a further €2.6 million under the Measure. I also allocated funding for investment in digital hubs as part of a Connected Hubs Fund.

Also in 2021, I introduced a new Project Development Measure of over €850,000 for 19 projects. The purpose of this measure is to assist local authorities to contribute to a pipeline of significant, well-developed projects which might be subsequently progressed to constructions stage, subject to the availability of further funding. The 2022 projects are currently being assessed with announcements expected shortly.

In relation to the 2022 TVRS, earlier this year I announced the allocation of €7.5m for the new Building Acquisition Measure to allow local authorities purchase vacant/derelict buildings, with a view to bringing back to use as multi purpose community spaces. I also allocated a total of €1.1m this year to support innovative marketing campaigns to attract remote workers to locations across rural Ireland. In respect of the remaining measures of the 2022 TVRS, applications are currently on hand and being evaluated. I expect to announce further allocations in this regard in the coming weeks.

The following table provides a breakdown of the budget allocated to the town and village renewal scheme across the various measures from 2017 to 2022.