David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I wish to raise a few issues. I have had a look through some of the examples that the Department provided with respect to what happens in other jurisdictions. It seems to me that the right to request remote working is basically it, and that from what I can see, this legislation is on a par with that is already in place in other jurisdictions. One of the core issues that Deputy Bruton touched on a bit is the right to go to the WRC and what the WRC can do. Specifically, it is about whether it can adjudicate and decide on procedural issues or on a substantive issue. I ask Ms McElwee the following. If the WRC was given the power to adjudicate on the substantive issue as to whether a right to remote work should be granted in the first place, would that give clarity to the whole situation?

I have a question for Ms King. With respect to what they do in New Zealand, if a person has the right to work from home and the employer is responsible for the health and safety, should the employer have the right to, somehow or other, either remotely or in some other way, inspect the workplace or work location? It seems to me that it could be the case that a person is working from home and the employer is responsible for the worker's safety, yet the employer cannot gain access because it might be a worker's private residence. Has Ms King thought how that might be dealt with in any way?

I note that there is an internal appeals procedure. Within two weeks of the start of the internal appeals procedure, a claim can be taken to the WRC. In Ms King's view, does that mean that there could be two processes ongoing, an internal appeal and the WRC procedure, at the same time? Would it not make more sense of the internal appeal procedure was finished first? If it reached some kind of agreement in that way, there would be no need for the WRC claim. I will finish there and perhaps come back in later.