Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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96. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he will publish a comprehensive plan to expand the remit of connected hubs to unlock new opportunities in rural communities in areas such as e-health and online learning; his plans to utilise the hub network as an incubation space for local entrepreneurs and start-ups; if he has had any engagement with the State’s enterprise agencies in relation to this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25826/25]

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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113. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he will publish a comprehensive plan to expand the remit of Connected Hubs to unlock new opportunities in rural communities in areas such as e-health and online learning; his plans to utilise the hub network as an incubation space for local entrepreneurs and start-ups; if he has had any engagement with the State’s enterprise agencies in relation to this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26325/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 113 together.

A key focus of Our Rural Future - the Government's Rural Development Policy 2021 to 2025 - is to optimise digital connectivity to support vibrant, sustainable rural communities, ensuring equality of access to digital services. Our Rural Future committed to the establishment of a network of 400 remote working hubs across the country by the end of 2025. To this end, Connectedhubs.ie was launched in mid 2021, and there are now 381 hubs live on the network which continues to grow. Furthermore, the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future includes a commitment to expand the remit of Connected Hubs to unlock new opportunities in rural communities.

A new National Hubs Strategy, to be published this year, will present a coherent and whole-of-government approach to the future development of hubs. This strategy is being developed in partnership with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Western Development Commission and in consultation with hub managers, local authorities, communities and other stakeholders, including Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and Údarás na Gaeltachta. The enterprise agencies play a key role in guiding the development of the strategy as members of the National Hub Network Interdepartmental Working group and the Strategy Working Group.

The strategy will include measures to underpin the sustainable development of the network of hubs, including Connected Hubs, with a view to enabling rural regeneration, contributing to balanced regional economic development, supporting working in hubs and providing access to digital services in rural communities. In particular, I am anxious to promote the role of Connected Hubs in supporting local entrepreneurs and start-ups as well as potential landing spaces for workers in FDI companies.

A number of initiatives have already been developed via the Connected Hubs network that benefit the wider community. For example, 'Learning in the Hubs' is a partnership between Technology University of the Shannon and Connected Hubs that enables adult learners to undertake part-time courses together in local hubs with state-of-the-art facilities. The concept allows students to remain in their own locality to study, while also providing a space to meet and network with other students.

My Department is supporting a pilot of health and wellbeing information events in Broadband Connection Points in County Galway. Galway County Council organise these events to help individuals understand their health and create opportunities for action and advocacy, through speakers and health screenings offered to the local community.

Since 2017, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has approved over €150 million in funding to strengthen regional enterprise ecosystems across Ireland. These schemes have supported the establishment and development of enterprise centres and hubs around the country. These enterprise hubs play a critical role in supporting start-ups and SMEs at various stages of growth by providing services, such as incubation and acceleration programmes, training and networking, and access to high-quality facilities including specialist equipment and test environments. These hubs help to enable regional innovation, collaboration and digital transformation, and also support attraction and retention of talent and investment in local areas.

I am committed to ensuring that these initiatives in my Department will continue to make a central contribution to the achievement of the Government's vision for rural digital connectivity, as set out in Our Rural Future.