Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
80. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the forthcoming progress report on the Our Rural Future strategy considering the strategy commits to reporting every six months and the policy was launched almost one year ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17892/22]
View answerWhat is the status of the forthcoming progress report? I acknowledge it is published and I read it with great interest. I will raise two aspects of the report. It has many references to the acceleration of broadband and also refers to the success of the remote working hubs, with which I entirely agree. There are two matters. One relates to the ability to accelerate the broadband programme. Has the Minister had any engagement regarding that on the back of this progress report?
Our Rural Future represents the Government's blueprint for the development of rural Ireland up to 2025. It provides the framework to achieve the vision of transforming the quality of life and opportunity for people living in rural areas. It was published in March 2021 and contains more than 150 measures across the whole of government for short-term recovery and long-term development.
Implementation of the five-year policy will be delivered by a series of progress reports and work programmes, which allow for the policy to be flexible enough to respond to new challenges and issues as they emerge. The first progress report was published on 25 February and is available on my Department's website. It provides updates on a total of 216 actions contained in the 2021 work programme. The level of achievement detailed in the report is extremely positive, with a completion rate of just under 80% on actions to be delivered by the end of 2021. Some key actions delivered in 2021 include the establishment of the national hubs network, the launch of the town centre first policy, and the publication of a range of important policies and action plans, including the new agrifood strategy, Food Vision 2030, the sustainable tourism interim action plan, and an action plan for apprenticeships.
A new work programme for 2022 is being finalised in conjunction with Departments and will be published shortly, with activity already under way on many of the actions it contains. The key challenge now is for us to maintain the momentum of delivery from the first year of the policy in order to ensure that the full impact of Our Rural Future is delivered for rural communities throughout Ireland. This policy applies right across the Government. Every Department has had to submit its actions and I will be holding them to account to make sure they deliver.
It is welcome to see so many of those actions either delivered or well under way. I welcome that. I will speak on two aspects of that progress report, in particular. The very first measure relates to broadband. The report references the acceleration of the broadband programme, which was a commitment in the programme for Government. The Minister will know that National Broadband Ireland, NBI, is under significant pressure. It had a target last year of 115,000 premises to be passed but 34,500 premises were passed by the end of last year. That is concerning because of the catch-up that is now needed, never mind accelerating the programme from a seven year roll-out to a five year roll-out, which would be very welcome given that so many of us in rural communities do not have broadband, have very poor Internet access and struggle daily, especially those who have businesses in such areas.
The remote work strategy interdepartmental group is also referenced in the report. Will it look at the legislation on remote working, which will be very important if remote working hubs are to work and be sustained?
NBI is rolling out the national broadband plan. There are probably many more connections than had initially been anticipated. Its representatives said that to me when I spoke to them informally. They said there was a lot of demand for connections and NBI is rolling them out. The good thing about NBI being on the ground is that it means other providers are also stepping up to the plate. In fact, the national broadband connection comes less than half a mile from my house but, thankfully, another provider was able to step in and I was able to get a wireless connection that means I have good broadband. The fact that the national broadband plan is on its way is helping others to step up to the plate. That is also a good thing.
It is important that the Minister has a real level of direct engagement with NBI, even though it is not exactly her Department's remit. Given how crucial the roll-out of broadband in a timely manner is, and its importance to rural communities, it is important she engages regarding it. I know that she is doing so. The target that was missed last year was significant. When we look at the likes of Eir, it met its targets. While Covid may be used as part of the reason, other telecommunications companies met and exceeded their targets; NBI did not. That is of concern. It is of particular concern for us in rural communities because we need broadband.
I ask that the Minister play a role regarding the remote work legislation. It will be very important. We want the remote working hubs to work in our communities. They are very important. They will sustain rural communities, keep people in their communities and benefit the local economy. There are many benefits to them but we have to get that legislation right.
As the Deputy knows, the Tánaiste is bringing forward legislation on the right to request remote working. It is possibly before one of the Oireachtas committees at present - I am not sure where it is - but that is welcome. It is important we have that conversation with employers and employees. We want to encourage them because this has to be a win-win for employers and employees. Some of them may be concerned about it and may be worried. I know, in particular, that Tracy Keogh from Grow Remote has been fantastic. She has been encouraging people to take up the option of remote working. There are sometimes concerns around that but we need to allay those fears. We should take every opportunity we get in this House to promote the benefits of remote working and the game changer it has been for our rural communities.
