Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I commend the Labour Party on bringing it forward. The fact that the Government will not oppose it is welcome.

I read the explanatory note on the Bill and in the crisis we are in, this is probably one of the times where we could use the common-sense approach. Many speakers referred to the stress of working, whether at home, in the office or travelling to and from work. There is a saying that a happy worker is a productive worker. There are many advantages in this legislation. The first section of the Bill, which provides the legal right to disconnect, is the vital component. As a politician, I try to switch off at the weekend but generally I do not because I feel I might let somebody down if they cannot contact me. "hen someone is contracted to work for a company, however, and it is their livelihood, there is a vital component in this in that having a happier, more family-friendly atmosphere should be of benefit to both the employer and the employee if they can work together.

Tweaks will have to be made to the Bill and it will go to the next Stage but the one aspect we have to address is that the majority of people who work from home use the Internet and we have a serious issue with rural broadband. Deputy O'Reilly spoke about hubs in towns, which is an excellent idea. It is about providing anything that can allow us move forward in that regard.

Section 2 refers to the Organisation of Working Time Act. That is vital because when people are employed, they feel obliged to answer the phone 24-7 to their employer, which should not be the case. It is about giving people boundaries. If people have some form of normality in life and they are happy in work, they are happy to do the work. When they are less stressed, hassled and there is less deflection, they can concentrate on what they are employed and paid to do.

There is an in-depth explanation of the Bill and I could speak about that for the next half an hour, but in terms of conditions and so on, I believe this Bill will be of benefit to both employers and employees. There are many other benefits to working from home such as less commuting, less hassle and a better atmosphere. Many years ago I worked in construction. My children were six and seven years of age. I was 16 years with the company but I left it because I was not seeing my children enough due to working away from home. There are huge benefits in this Bill. It is self-explanatory. I again commend the Labour Party on bringing forward the Bill. I hope to God it will come to fruition and benefit everybody in society at what is probably the worst time we have ever witnessed in the history of the planet, but we have come to the stage where we are planning for the future, and that has to be welcomed.

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