Dr. Laura Bambrick:

We might look at other countries that have remote working legislation. As was mentioned in our opening statement, 12 EU members states already have this legislation. Six, including Ireland, are in the process of including it. The others are the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

When we look at it, the vast majority of the legislation is around the right to request for all the reasons we have spoken about today. While many people will be in jobs that have tasks that allow them to work remotely, the vast majority still need to be in the employer's premises on-site to do the job. There are two exceptions to that.

In the last year, Finland has introduced legislation whereby employees have the right to work where they want and for the hours they want for half of their contracted hours. The legislation addresses flexitime and the location of their work, within limits, which are the same limits we are talking about today. It has to be done in a way that works for the business as well. I cannot say I would like to work between midnight and 6 o'clock if I am required to be contactable by members during the working day. Therefore, there is a balance. Finland has gone the furthest there in half-year contracted times. A person can choose where and when he or she wants to work within reason. We must recognise, however, that this has been built on by generations of looking at workers' rights around flexibility. They are not coming at this anew. Ireland is a laggard here. That legislation did not happen overnight.

The only other one exception is Romania where workers have the right to one day of working remotely from home. Again, it must suit the needs of the business. As Ms King mentioned earlier, the bricklayer still would not be entitled to it. Those are two countries that go that bit further around the right to request. For the vast majority of jurisdictions that are way ahead of Ireland in this regard, it is around the right to request. I hope that helps.