Mr. David Cagney:

The answer is "Yes". The Deputies and Senators will be aware of the recent Government decision to encourage strongly the take-up of blended working across the Civil Service and public service. My Department is leading the negotiations on that with the relevant social partners. Without going into the detail of those discussions, which are due to commence formally next week subject to a couple of governance issues being resolved, the approach that is likely to be taken is to allow individual Departments and offices to determine their own approach to blended working. We will not be prescribing what it should look like in various offices. A number of organisations have asked if we have an issue with Irish speakers working from home. Subject to the organisational requirements of the Departments, we do not.

We will be actively encouraging Departments to devise arrangements that suit their business models. If there is a challenge associated with hiring people who are proficient in Irish which relates to location or the cost of living in the city, blended working would seem a very appropriate option. The Deputy also made reference to hubs. That is not on our immediate agenda. There does not appear to be any immediate need for that within the Civil Service but that situation could change as we roll out blended working arrangements, which it is intended to do over the course of autumn, winter and the first quarter of next year.