Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 June 2021
246. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the estimated cost of developing the 400 remote working hubs and the requisite support services identified in Our Rural Future and for additional remote working hubs in each of the 31 local authority areas. [32288/21]
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. This is a key focus of the Government's new rural development policy Our Rural Future.
Remote working, supported by appropriate infrastructure and facilities, has the potential to encourage more people to live in rural areas while working in good quality jobs, no matter where their employer is based. It can also help revitalise our rural town if remote working hubs are developed in their centres.
The National Hub Network expanded from a €1m scheme that was funded under the 2019 Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan. This project was originally scoped to develop a hub network, supported by a shared online platform for remote working facilities in the Atlantic Economic Corridor. However, in light of the clear demand for such a network across the county, this was expanded to a national project that would support both Our Rural Future and the National Remote Working strategy.
To support this expansion I have provided the Western Development Commission with additional funding to support the project, with €250k being provided to develop connnectedhubs.ie as a national brand, which I launched on May 31 in Swinford, Co. Mayo. This money will also fund a national awareness raising campaign for the hub network.
In addition, I have committed to funding the on-boarding and operational costs of the connectedhubs.ie platform for hubs across the country for the next 3 years. This is expected to cost in the region of €1.3m.
The National Hub Network, supported by connectedhubs.ie will work to increase the impact and benefit of our remote working infrastructure across the country. This will help to guide future funding decisions and to increase the return-on-investment to the exchequer going forward.
My Department also continues to invest significantly in the development of new Hub facilities across the country. Since 2015, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme has provided €7.8m in funding to hubs and hub-related projects. Many of the successful projects involve the regeneration of historic town centre buildings as Enterprise and Co-Working Hubs.
I recently announced funding of €15 million that is available under the 2021 Town & Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS). In line with Our Rural Future, a key focus of this year’s scheme is to renovate derelict and vacant buildings in our town centres, and specifically supports bringing vacant properties in town centres back into use or re-purpose existing community or publicly owned buildings as remote working hubs.
I have increased the maximum grant available under this Scheme to €500,000 to permit projects of significant scale to be funded. The TVRS It is administered by Local Authorities, who are currently seeking expressions of interest for suitable projects from local groups in towns and villages within their respective counties. The closing date set for receipt of completed applications by my Department is 16 July.
In addition to funding through the Town and Village Scheme, €65m has also been invested in hub projects through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund since 2018. A further call for projects under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund will issue later this year.
