Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Mangan and Mr. Hegarty for their very comprehensive reports. I am a fan of remote working. It offers a great opportunity, particularly around the regions. Anything that reduces people's commuting time has to be welcomed in promoting a green environment. May I ask a couple of questions? Ms Mangan said her organisation is surveying people on remote working and remote-working hubs all around the country. Has it surveyed the types of employment that lend themselves to remote working and specifically the types that do not?

Is there an opportunity to see if ways of working can be adapted? I know some cannot and, for instance, a forklift driver is very unlikely to be remote working any time soon. Where do the witnesses think that is going? How will we produce graduates in the future who are going to be oriented to the idea of moving into jobs that have a high technology component that probably lend themselves to remote working? That is the first point.

The second point is that I think blended working is where we are going to arrive at the finish. Most businesses will find there are benefits to both remote working and having people in the workplace for all of the reasons that were mentioned, such as access to the boss, access to promotion, being visible and being seen doing what they are doing. I believe blended working is the way to go and, therefore, it brings up the whole issue of trying to get broadband rolled out nationally to give people an offering. I would like an answer to those points.

On a point that has come up at the committee previously, Mr. Hegarty’s company is 100% remote, as he pointed out. Does he have any issues around the idea of employee liability where an employee might suffer an accident in the workplace while working from home? Has he had any issues in that regard and could he outline any of those? Those are my two questions.