Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

In his concluding remarks, the Minister mentioned taking the lead in creating five new workers' rights, one of them being the right to request remote, home or hybrid working. What he is talking about is not really much of a right if it is just the right to request. If we had a situation where one has a right to request the minimum wage, people would think that was laughable. It is similar with the right to request time off or the right to request a vote. It is not much of a right if one is providing that the employee can ask for it and the employer can reject it on the ground that it is not suitable on business grounds. The Minister helpfully gives 13 reasons it may not be suitable, but stresses that it is not limited to those. Effectively, he is turning the clock back. One of the few benefits for workers during the pandemic in terms of being able to work from home is being reversed and we are returning to a situation where workers will be compelled to go to the workplace, even if their work can be done effectively at home.