Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On remote working, there have been some interesting surveys of people who are working remotely. Roughly speaking, approximately 10% to 15% are dying to get back to the office full time. About 10% to 15% want to work from home permanently. There is a large majority in the middle, amounting to about 70%, who would like blended working. I believe that is going to be the future. It involves people going to headquarters for necessary meetings or training one or two days per week and working from home or a remote hub on the other days. We need to facilitate that, including through the national broadband plan, investing in remote hubs in rural towns and villages, in particular, and a new legal framework. We have engaged in public consultation on this. I have not fully made up my mind on it yet but a framework is probably required on a right to request remote working or home working and a right to switch off so we do not end up at work always when we are at home. It feels a bit like that already in our line of work but that is not the way it should be. It is also a matter of ensuring how people can have some of their home and remote working costs covered. This was partly covered in the budget in that people working from home can defray any vouched expenses, including the cost of broadband.

See this speech in context