I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 51 and 106 together.
I thank Deputy Carroll MacNeill for raising the important issue of remote working and the move towards a blended working model post pandemic. As I have said previously, I believe the pandemic has changed the world of work forever. Many of us will return to work but videoconferences will be more common and travelling for work much less so. While some people will work full time from the office or from home, many of us will be blended workers, working sometimes from the office and other times from home, or perhaps from a hub or on the go.
The remote working strategy, which I published in January, aims to ensure that remote work is a permanent feature in the Irish workplace of the future in a way that maximises economic, social and environmental benefits. Among the main actions we will take are mandating that home and remote work should be the norm for 20% of public sector employment; reviewing the treatment of remote working for the purposes of tax and expenditure in the next budget; mapping and investing in a network of remote working hubs across Ireland; legislating for the right to request remote working; developing a code of practice for the right to disconnect; and doing what we can to accelerate the provision of high-speed broadband to all parts of Ireland. My Department is leading on the implementation of the strategy.
Members will be aware that on 1 April I signed a the code of practice on the right to disconnect, and that a public consultation on the right to request remote working concluded on 7 May. I am very aware of the importance of infrastructure for the development of remote work. Under this strategy, significant investment will be made in remote work hubs and infrastructure in underserved areas to underpin the development of the national hub network.
The Department of Rural and Community Development, under the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is leading the interdepartmental national hub networking programme, on which my Department is represented. Recently, it launched a €5 million call for funding for connected hubs. Earlier this week, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, launched connectedhubs.ie, which will provide a shared booking platform for hubs throughout the country. It is Ireland's first ever digital hub network and 66 hubs throughout the country are on board and accessible to remote workers via an online map. The number will rise to 100 by the end of 2021 and the overall target is for 400.