Ó An Roinn Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail
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The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, today encouraged employers to consider the many advantages that ConnectedHubs.ie offers for staff returning to work over the next few months.
Speaking about the opportunities offered by the Connected Hubs network the Minister said:
“When Government launched ‘Our Rural Future’ last March, we gave a commitment to develop a national network of 400 remote working hubs over the next 5 years. This has been a priority for my Department and I am pleased to say there are already 177 hubs live on the ConnectedHubs.ie platform. Employers and Employees can log on to www.connectedhubs.ie and book space in these hubs today.”
Minister Humphreys continued:
“Now that restrictions are being eased and people are starting to go back into the office environment, many employers are keen to offer a ‘blended working’ opportunity to staff. We know that many people don’t want to work from their kitchen table or bedroom forever. There needs to be clear lines between where ‘work life’ ends and ‘home life’ begins. Equally we know that people don’t want to go back to the days of the long commute and spending hours sitting in their car when they could be spending that time with their family. Working from a hub in your local town or village is the optimum solution to both of these issues – it means there are clear demarcation lines between work and family life while at the same time removing the requirement for the long commute. It will also increase footfall in our rural town and villages.”
Minister Humphreys concluded:
“I would strongly encourage employers to visit ConnectedHubs.ie and find out how it can benefit their business. ConnectedHubs.ie helps to make blended working arrangements a real possibility by providing high speed broadband along with all the other necessary office equipment that workers require. There is nationwide coverage with over 177 hubs already using the ConnectedHubs.ie platform and I expect this figure to increase to 400 by the end of 2025. My Department has invested millions of euro in funding in the establishment of new remote working hub facilities and also in upgrading existing hub facilities. This has ensured that remote working hubs offer a modern, safe and convenient environment for workers all across the country. I welcome the legislation which the Tánaiste has brought forward today and I would encourage employers to look at utilising these hubs as a means to allow their staff to continue to work remotely into the future.”
The National Connected Hubs network, ConnectedHubs.ie, currently has 177 hubs using the platform. A further 280 hubs have already been mapped and will be invited to join the network over the coming months.
Our Rural Future
Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.