Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

First of all, I do not agree with the disparaging remarks made by Deputy O'Reilly about the Tánaiste, who is not here to defend himself. These remarks should not have been put to an official to comment upon. Regarding head 12, a lot of attention is being paid to what or should not be on the list. The reality is that whether or not the employer picks one of these is entirely subjective. It is not an exhaustive list and is not justiciable in any way so unless we remove the subjectivity or the justiciable or adjudicatable element, I am not sure whether working on the list offers a lot. I wonder whether we could use the fact that the employer must have a policy to require not a subjective decision but a decision that is rooted in the policy so that if a request is rejected, it is rejected on the grounds of something in the policy. That would then provide an opportunity for the WRC to look at the adequacy of the policy so there would not necessarily be a lot of individual cases going to the WRC but an employer's policy could be presented to the WRC for adjudication as to whether it met the code. It is an offence, which I presume is a criminal offence or least a fineable offence, not to have a policy. Is the Department looking at that area? What will be in the code? Has the Department given thought to what the code is like? What are the do's and dont's of a policy? Once the policy is produced, there must be reasonable grounds that the employer will follow them when it is making decisions. This legislation contains the power to use a code in quite a powerful way if it is designed in that fashion. Can we move away from the subjective? What is going to be in the code that could become an evolving requirement to facilitate more and more remote working as we go?