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Rural Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 February 2022

Thursday, 17 February 2022

Questions (1)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

1. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of remote working hubs and the possible impact on uptake given the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and the return to the office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8941/22]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

This is to ask the Minister about the roll-out of the connected hubs. Perhaps she might be able to provide figures on the numbers rolled out last year and what the intention is for this year. I also wish to ask her about the possible impact on the roll-out and continuation of remote working now that many people have gone back to the office and there has been a return to work after Covid.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. My Department operates a number of schemes that focus on supporting the development of remote working hubs as outlined in Our Rural Future, Rural Development Policy 2021-2025. To date, approximately €100 million has been provided by my Department through various funding streams to support the development of digital hubs and remote working facilities across Ireland.

In May last year, I launched the national connected hubs network, connectedhubs.ie. There are currently 189 hubs live on the platform, with this number rising on an ongoing basis. The network includes a diverse range of hubs, services and facilities, thus facilitating different types of employers and employees. The platform offers booking and hub management applications to network members.

To date our focus has been on the establishment of the network. The focus will now shift to raising awareness of the network to relevant stakeholders, including SMEs, business owners and hub users. Consultations are also ongoing with hub managers across the country in developing the future strategic direction of the national hub network. With a connected hubs marketing campaign currently in the final stages of development and due to launch shortly, coinciding with the return to the office, it is expected that these events will have a positive effect on the uptake of remote working from hub facilities.

The development of a national hubs network is a key commitment in Our Rural Future and I am committed to continuing my Department's support for the ongoing development of a comprehensive and integrated network of remote working hubs in recognition of the vital role that they can play in our post-Covid recovery.

It is really welcome to see those 189 hubs rolled out at a fairly fast pace. I know of some who have looked for it and it has been up and running fairly quickly. That is all really welcome. There is a lot of focus on remote working in Our Rural Future. It is so important that we get it right. Equally, post Covid, it is really important that the level of remote working remains steady. We know from reports that the number of vehicles and cars on our road are the same as pre-Covid times. There is a concern that the need for remote working hubs may not be as great if people are going back to the office. We need to be very careful in that respect.

I appreciate that the legislation on remote working is not coming from the Minister's Department. Has she been consulted on it? Will her Department be engaging with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on it? That legislation will be key.

I absolutely agree with the Deputy. We have the hubs in place now. We want to make sure that we do not go back to the old ways. We want to make sure that people use them. They are in the local facilities. We have invested and built them; now it is about promoting and supporting them, and encouraging employers to allow their workers to work remotely. I was in one on Monday last in The Station House in Monaghan. It is an old station house that has been converted into a remote working hub. It was great to see people from all over working there. They might normally have to be based in Dublin but they are able to work remotely in Monaghan and other places. I know in the Deputy's own county there are a lot of remote working hubs. Roscommon County Council got €177,000 from the connected hubs fund. We want to make sure they are full. I am a very big supporter of remote working as I know the Deputy is.

The Minister is right that it will be about promoting them. The Minister mentioned the connectedhubs.ie website. I suggest promoting them on a greater scale. One has just opened in Ballinlough, County Roscommon, and they are trying to promote it to get people into it and so people know it is there. It is a service that people can use and it is really welcome.

However, we need to ensure that we get the legislation right. Otherwise some workers who have been working remotely for the last year or two are going to be put in a difficult position as regards going back to the office. We need to ensure that work-life balance is maintained. We have gone a long way with remote working, thanks to Covid in a lot of respects. We need to ensure that we keep hold of that for the benefit of our rural communities in particular. I urge the Minister to ensure there is engagement and consultation with her Department on that legislation.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, is bringing through the legislation on remote working. We certainly have been working with his Department in developing that and will continue to co-operate in every way we can. On Monday I am going to be launching the connected hubs network, which will enable people to access this on an app on their phones. We have over 180 connected and have mapped out over 400 hubs across the country. We are encouraging them to join the network. That work continues on and we hope it will accelerate further this year in terms of the numbers that will join the connectedhubs.ie platform. We are engaged with different organisations. Grow Remote has been particularly good at connecting workers and employers and explaining to them the benefits of remote work.

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