Everything you need to know about the new remote working initiatives
Heather Humphreys - who launched a new remote working scheme - speaking to Teresa Hanratty, project manager with Learning Waves, a business that uses Creative Spark, a centre for creativity and innovation, in Dundalk. Picture: Julien Behal
A series of new initiatives have been announced that aim to make remote working in Ireland easier and more attractive.
The initiatives, which include vouchers for hot-desking, have been outlined by Rural and Community Development Minister Heather Humphreys.
Ms Humphreys said: “I am serious about ensuring we don’t simply revert to the ‘old normal’ – the way of life we had before Covid-19.”
“Remote working has been a game-changer for thousands of people. It’s given people of all ages a better quality of life – allowing them to spend more time with their family friends, working within their local town or village.”
Here’s everything you need to know:
People are being offered three free days in digital hubs to attract more employees to work remotely.
The Connected Hubs Voucher Scheme will provide 10,000 days at hot desk spaces nationwide for both existing and first-time users.
The scheme will initially provide three days of hub use per person between now and the end of August and follows a ‘voucher follows the person’ approach.
“So, for people who may wish to holiday at home this summer, this scheme is ideal if you need to do a couple of days working in facilities that are comfortable and underpinned by good quality broadband,” said Ms Humphreys.
Potential new hub users and those thinking of a working staycation are being urged to set up a connectedhubs.ie profile.
Vouchers will be applied to all registered users in the coming weeks, she added.
Over 80 hub facilities across the country have benefited from €5m in funding via the Connected Hubs Call, which took place earlier this year.
Twenty-six of these are in Munster, spread across Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Clare and Tipperary.
For example, in Mallow, Laharn Heritage Centre has benefitted from €36,500 to install advanced audio/visual equipment.
Charleville Enterprise Centre received €72,289 in funding to upgrade disability access and bathrooms, providing cycling racks, a defibrillator and a sound studio among several other upgrades.
In Cork City, Plus10 Coworking and Innovation space has received €70,434 to add two additional four-person meeting rooms, two additional privacy booths and a podcast studio/video conferencing studio.
€400,000 has been secured by Innovate Limerick to upgrade seven existing hubs across the county, while Clare County Council received €145,000 for five hubs.
Ms Humphrey’s said the scheme is designed to add remote working capacity at hubs and Broadband Connection Points across the country, “to make more space for remote workers and to improve the quality of the facilities and their services”.
There are now 242 remote working facilities on the Connected Hubs Network, and the full list can be found here.
Also announced today was €50,000 in funding to each Local Authority under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
This will allow them to fund marketing campaigns and promote the remote working opportunities available in their areas.
“There are any number of people considering relocating from our cities and larger towns, whether to return home or to try something new,” said MsHumphreys.
“But they need to know what is available, where the hubs are and what the opportunities might be.”
She added that the grant will help counties “show off” what they have to offer for remote workers and “to attract mobile talent and remote workers to their localities”.
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