Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Mulligan for his presentation. The concluding part of the opening statement refers to all the positives: the positive economic, spatial, environmental, cultural and societal change for our country, increased participation, attracting and retaining talent etc. There is also the report published by the Department this morning, which points to an average of €413 a year in savings for workers working remotely from reduced commuting costs, the monetary value in reduced carbon emissions of over €7 million and a time saving of 93 hours a year, which is valued at just over €1,000, quite a low valuation. It works out at about €11 an hour less than most workers get paid. Mr. Mulligan factors in the fact that people can have cheaper and better quality housing and reduced need to pay for childcare. The positives are enormous and are spelled out towards the end of Mr. Mulligan's opening statement. That does not really tally, however, with the Department's and the Government's approach to this, which is very minimal, in reality. What we are talking about is the right to request rather than the right to do and, therefore, a corollary of the right of refusal on the employer's side. Why is that? Why do all these positives not weigh more heavily in the Department's considerations?