Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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I want to pick up on two issues. Ms O'Brien spoke about people who want to work but cannot, and it is important to quantify that. The CSO says the figure was 15.1% in quarter 2 of 2024 and that figure has been rising, if we look at the annual average since 2022. We might talk about the number of people who are signing on but there is a much larger part of the potential labour force, some 15%, who say they would like a job if they could get it. We all know people with caring responsibilities, who have a block to getting childcare or who have a disability, or whatever it may be in their lives.

I am glad that Senator Ahearn brought up the issue of remote and flexible work because there is a real concern in that regard.

The availability of flexible and remote work could be a real passport into the workplace for those with a disability, lone parents and people who are cut off from the labour force, but there is no real right to flexible or remote work for the vast majority of workers in this country.

I have a question on employer processes. It is a while since I last applied for a job but people who have been out of the labour force for a period or who have gaps in their employment history have told me about the online application systems. I was struck by one example from Fingal County Council. A person was applying for a job with the council and a question they had to answer was why there was a gap of 950 days in their employment history. The person was at home with a small child for a period of years and, in a very direct question, was asked to account for that gap. This may apply to men also but I am thinking in particular of women who have been out of the workforce for a while and then come across an application like that. They would run for the hills because they think they are going to be judged because of the gap. I would like to hear more from the witnesses about the online application processes that are now in place for most jobs. What sort of deterrents exist? How can we improve online application processes so people with gaps in their history are not deterred from applying?