Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The opening statement raised a question about the cost-benefit methodology. There can be qualitative and quantitative assessments. Would the cost-benefit analysis that the witnesses would have preferred provide a figure for the future value of remote working? To my mind, that cannot be quantified now. No figure can be put on the person outside Skibbereen being able to sell his or her pottery to the man in America. No figure can be put on the person in Portlaoise who is commuting to Dublin being able to stay three days per week at home. In the witnesses' raw analysis of the sums, have they included a variable, for want of a better word?