Ms Maeve McElwee:

I thank the Deputy for her question. First and foremost, the vast majority of our members are indicating to us they intend to continue with remote and hybrid methods of working into the future. They definitely see the benefits. Even before the pandemic hit, we had already seen quite a significant move towards more remote and hybrid working on an ongoing basis. Employers recognise the benefit to themselves. Especially where we look at trying to draw and attract talent and particular skill sets into our businesses and industries, the opportunity to be able to look at a wider market, to be able to identify people who are not within necessarily within the immediate vicinity of the office or environment in which we are working is an enormous benefit. It also means that we have lots more individuals in the labour market who potentially are not now participating but are much more open to participating in remote or hybrid settings. Employers absolutely see the opportunities. Lots of employers are looking at how they might resize some of their working spaces and environments. That also provides some opportunities. It is fair to say business and employers see the opportunities and the cost savings for themselves and for their own employees directly.

The purpose of this morning was maybe to focus on the issues relating to the general scheme. There are undoubtedly challenges for employers within that because there are very considerable costs that arise. These are not just the direct costs but the potential responsibilities that fall on employers. It is the scale of the fines relating to data protection. It is the scale of the risk around cybersecurity. It is the risk that arises with very prescriptive legislation where there are challenges around occupational health and safety, accidents in the workplace, insurance queries and all sorts of equality issues that may arise. We need to focus on these. It is not in any way that we do not see the benefit. Lots of employers absolutely see the benefit and the cost benefit. It is the scale of the financial liabilities we also need to consider as we look at the development of legislation around this.