Louise O'Reilly
Question:321. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount invested in remote working hubs in 2020. [33725/21]
View answerWednesday, 23 June 2021
Questions (321)
Written answers
The 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.
Close to €9M was invested in projects in 2020 that incorporated the development of remote working facilities through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Programme in 2020.
Since 2016 my Department has invested more than €50 million in the development of remote working facilities through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. Investment in new remote working facilities will continue in 2021 through further calls for both schemes.
I have also allocated €5 million to fund a Connected Hubs Call this year. This initiative will provide funding to support small scale capital works in existing hubs and Broadband Connection Points. Applications are currently being evaluated by my officials and I expect to shortly be in a position to announce the results of the evaluation process.
Significant investment is also being made in remote working infrastructure and connectivity through the Broadband Connection Points (BCP) initiative; a significant number of which are offering remote working facilities.