Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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605. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to indicate her ambitions for the development of the national hub network in the future, the major beneficiaries to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4292/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 605 together.

Our Rural Future recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing a comprehensive and integrated national network of 400 remote working hubs by 2025.

My Department’s focus to date has been on strategically developing a national hub network, adding capacity to Ireland's existing remote working infrastructure and supporting the establishment of new hubs.

Over €150m has been invested by my department in the development of remote working facilities through programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and the Connected Hubs Call. Successful projects are developed in collaboration with local authorities and local communities with vacant and derelict buildings in rural towns and villages converted into community facilities with remote working hubs.

In 2021, I launched connectedhubs.ie, a shared online booking and payments platform for member hubs and their users. An interactive map on the platform shows the location and details of each remote working hub on the network and allows remotes workers to book and pay for desks and meeting rooms. There are currently 342 remote and co-working facilities across the country on-boarded to the platform, meaning we are well on track to achieving our target of 400 hubs in 2025.

Following strong progress on the establishment phase of connected hubs, my focus has now shifted to the next stage of development and my Department is currently leading, with colleagues from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, in the formulation of a National Hub Strategy which I will bring to Government this year. This strategy has been developed in consultation with hub managers, local authorities and communities, and other stakeholders

The Strategy will inform the future strategic direction of the National Hub Network and ensure the strategic development and sustainability of Ireland’s Hub Infrastructure.

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.