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

Our Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy, recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working and digital access presents and commits to establishing an integrated national network of 400 remote working hubs by 2025. I am pleased to say that we are well on our way to meeting this commitment. There are now 310 hubs on-boarded to the connectedhubs.ie platform and this number is growing all the time.

The Broadband Connection Points (BCP) project is also progressing well, with 290 of 300 sites now live and in use. The remaining 10 sites will be connected before the end of Quarter 2 of this year.

BCPs are publicly accessible facilities, typically community centres and sports clubs, in rural and isolated areas including on some of our islands.

Over €150m has been invested by my department in the development of remote working facilities and BCPs through programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, Connected Hubs Call and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund.

I am committed to ensuring that these vital investments in digital connectivity can continue to underpin delivery of the objectives of Our Rural Future.