Superfast broadband and tax breaks key to major plan for rural Irish revival

Guaranteeing superfast broadband and providing grants and tax breaks for people who want to live in small towns and villages are among the main planks of the Government’s plan to reverse generations of depopulation and decline in rural Ireland.

Several Ministers described the plan as “transformational” during its launch at Croke Park in Dublin on Monday, with Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan saying it was the most important change for rural Ireland since the decades-long electrification scheme which brought electric power to every home in the State.

At the centre of the plan are policies to encourage workers to remain in, and move to, rural Ireland in their thousands.

The Government plans to have 400 remote working facilities with high-speed broadband throughout the State; to have 20 per cent of the public service working remotely; and a concerted drive to encourage people to settle in town and village centres, rather than in once-off housing, under a €1 billion town-first policy.

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Among the eye-catching initiatives are a plan to use rural pubs as hubs during the day, and a new law that will give employees the right to request to work from home.

The details of the individual financial packages will not be disclosed until the October budget.

About a third of Ireland’s population lives in rural Ireland, rising to half when all villages and rural towns with populations over 1,500 are taken into account.

Regional imbalance

Speaking at the launch, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the plan would address regional imbalance.

“The Government’s vision is for a rural Ireland which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development,” he said.

Asked why there were no costs attached to the plan, Minister for Rural Development Heather Humphreys said it was an overarching strategy that was setting out opportunities.

“For decades we have seen global trends where young people leave their local communities to live and work in larger cities. As we emerge from Covid-19 we will never have a better opportunity to reverse that long-standing trend.

“The move to remote working, underpinned by the rollout of the National Broadband Plan, has the potential to transform rural Ireland like never before.

“It will allow people to work from their own local communities, revitalise our town centres, reduce commuting times, lower transport emissions and – most importantly – improve the quality of life of our people,” she said.

Asked when the 400 broadband hubs and co-working spaces would be delivered, she said no specific dates had been established as yet.

She said she has spoken to the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland about using rural pubs – many of which have not been open during the week for some years – as community hubs during the day and they had responded positively.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said a lot of workers would return to offices after the Covid-19 pandemic and might be “glad to do so”.

Blended working

However, he said that blended working would become the norm. He said working from home several days a week would reduce commuting time and transport emissions.

Mr Ryan said the broadband plan would be completed within the seven-year timeframe, and also laid emphasis on just transition as a key part of the strategy.

The Government’s investment in climate action would bring new job opportunities to rural communities, in areas such as renewable energy, retrofitting and sustainable farming and tourism, he said.

Asked about the broadband plan, Mr Ryan said that 196,000 houses had been surveyed, that 290 broadband connection points had been installed throughout the State and that 70,000 homes would have broadband connected by the end of the year, mainly in Cavan and Cork.

The four Ministers all pointed to the potential of the green economy, such as renewable energy, and tourism. They referred to the popularity of greenways. Ms Humphreys pointed to adventure tourism.

Another of the actions in the strategy is to develop “dark skies” tourism, where people can see the night sky with a minimum of light pollution.

Mr Varadkar said that the current development plan envisages 200,000 more people living in rural Ireland by 2040.