Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2021
704. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if funding is available for the establishment of a remote working hub in a commercial premises; the pathway for access to this funding; if so, the timeline for provision of this funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22737/21]
View answerThe increased shift to remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity for a greater regional distribution of jobs and to support a better quality of life for many people who previously spent many hours in long commutes.
Remote working has the potential to transform rural Ireland, allowing people to build careers in good quality jobs while continuing to live closer to home, and to generate increased economic activity in our rural towns. This is a key focus of the Government's new rural development policy Our Rural Future.
Building on an initiative by the Western Development Commission in developing a network of remote working and co-working hubs along the western seaboard, an Inter-Departmental Working Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, was established last October to oversee the development of a National Hub Network.
In addition to the supports and tools being developed under the National Hub Network programme, I have allocated €5 million to fund a Connected Hubs Call under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme this year. This initiative will provide funding to support small scale capital works in existing hubs, both public and private, and Broadband Connection Points. Details of the Connected Hubs Call were announced on Thursday April 29th and are available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/d916d7-digital-initiatives-schemes/#connected-communities-initiative.
My Department also continues to invest significantly in the provision of new Hub facilities across the country through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. In April, I announced funding for 25 projects which were successful under a Category 1 call for applications to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund which closed in December 2020. In total, the 25 successful projects under this call will receive funding of €81 million from the Fund and provide total investment in rural areas of just under €100 million. Many of the successful projects involve the regeneration of historic town centre buildings as Enterprise and Co-Working Hubs. A further call for projects under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund will issue later this year.
This year’s €15m Town & Village Renewal Scheme, which I launched on Monday 3rd May, will include support for new facilities that will bring vacant properties in town centres back into use or repurpose existing community or publicly owned buildings as remote working hubs. Details on the scheme are available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/01125e-town-and-village-renewal-scheme/
Funding for the type of project referred to by the Deputy may also be available through the LEADER Transitional Programme. This programme, which will cover the period 2021-2022, came into effect on the 1 April 2021 for new project applications. The programme will be delivered through Local Action Groups (LAGs) in each of the 28 LEADER sub-regional areas around the country.
Funding is provided under a broad range of themes, including rural economic development and enterprise development. In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy for the relevant LEADER area, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.
The decision to approve a project, or otherwise, is a matter for the LAG which administers the programme in each LEADER area. Interested applicants should, in the first instance, contact the relevant LAG through its Implementing Partner to discuss the eligibility of the project and the funding that may be available.
The list of all Local Action Groups, their Implementing Partners and their contact details, is available on my Department's website at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c45498-local-action-groups.
