Ms Joanne Mangan:

The legislation is not necessarily the lever that will unlock locationless work in Ireland. As I said at the start, it is more than being just about legislation; it is about a systemic, cultural shift we are making in Ireland. Some of the feedback we have given on the legislation relates in particular to removing some of the misconceptions about remote work, building in opportunities to identify solutions and coming up with ways to address some of the challenges so companies will not just say they will not allow remote work because of all the challenges we list. It is a matter of having a bit of a driver and support for companies to help them in overcoming those challenges.

I can talk a little about Grow Remote's work. At our heart, we are a local community development organisation that advocates remote work as a driver of community development. We have a very broad community of members, who are local people all over the country and beyond who come together in person as well as online. Much of this is about solving the social isolation that remote working can cause. We have chapters in towns and villages all over Ireland whose members meet up, get to know each other and engage in local activities. Our chapters, which are groups of remote workers around the country, are also very instrumental in promoting remote jobs available in their towns. They are almost like mini jobs boards in the towns around Ireland. They might ask people whether they know they can get a great job in Shopify or eBay and do it from their locality. It is a matter of spreading the word and generating awareness. The chapters also play a key role in attracting people back to towns. They are trying to reinvigorate their local communities. Those are the three things our chapters are driving. Even though we are all about remote working, we are actually very focused on face-to-face, offline community activity because we regard remote work as the lever to enable it. Owing to the additional time remote work gives and because it enables people to stay in their town, members of local communities will have the time and space to meet up, contribute to the local GAA club or join Tidy Towns.