Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for initiating this debate today. The discussion on its proposed Bill is focusing our minds on the issue of remote working, the benefits of which we all understand. There is no doubt that working from home or working remotely, even in non-Covid times, when properly planned can provide significant benefits such as a better work, life balance for everyone, with reduced daily commutes and less negative impacts on the environment through reductions in traffic and air pollution. It also has great benefits for our regions and local economies, including our towns and villages. Our communities are strengthened by having people at home more often and not having to do long daily commutes. In my county, people can spend three or four hours in their cars going to and from work and that is true for many other counties. We all benefit from having people working closer to their home, whether they are remote working in their house or working in a hub that is provided privately or through the State.

We can make much progress here and build on the success of the past couple of years but I must stress that this must be done in a planned way. Covid-19 resulted in many people working from home in an unplanned way. They were trying to work, to survive and to manage everything, which was very difficult and put them under much pressure. The focus of today's debate on this Bill and of what all sides of the House are bringing forward should be on having a planned remote working strategy. That is what the Government is trying to achieve and facilitate to the greatest extent possible.

As recently as yesterday I had a very good discussion with the social enterprise and not-for-profit organisation, Grow Remote. It is very focused on this area and has been giving great advice to all stakeholders, including employers and employees, for the past few years. It is very focused on driving change and is a great organisation. We should all take heed of its advice and get involved in its work as much as possible.

A better work, life balance leads to higher employee retention. Digital technologies remove geographical barriers to recruitment as well as offering savings on office space and other facilities to the benefit of local areas. Of course, broadband plays a major part in aiding that. I am conscious that many of the contributors to this debate who were calling for more and speedier broadband are the same people who opposed the efforts of the last Government to improve broadband provision. Thankfully, we persisted and signed the national broadband plan contract. Approximately €100 million per year from the taxpayer along with other private money will ensure that we reach everyone's home with fibre broadband in the years ahead. I agree that the quicker that is done, the better. We should focus our minds on working with the contractor to see if we can do it quicker because we need it. That said, I would remind Deputies that they did not want the contract a year or two ago. I am glad they have come on board now and are buying into it and the importance of progressing it.

Covid-19 has certainly accelerated the move to working from home for a greater number of people and this has brought its own challenges for both employers and employees because of the speed with which it happened. I welcome today's discussion and, as the Tánaiste already advised, the Government is committed to facilitating and promoting remote working going forward. As a primary response to Covid-19 my Department launched a new web page dedicated to providing guidance for employers and employees on working remotely. This central access point provides all the current Government guidance available on remote working. In July my Department launched a public consultation on the existing guidance on remote work to understand how it could be improved. The consultation received more than 500 submissions from workers, employers, business groups, representative organisations and special interest groups. Some of the main topics arising in the submissions have been aired during this debate while others have not. They include the right to disconnect, tax and financial incentives for remote working, occupational health and safety issues, broadband provision, data protection, cybersecurity and training. We are working through all the submissions at the moment.

It is clear that any proposals for specific legislation on the right to disconnect would need to be carefully considered in order to avoid unintended negative consequences. Such legislation must be fit for purpose and enforceable and will be prioritised by the Government. Given the diverse range of sectors that avail of mobile technology and remote working, a one size fits all approach may not be appropriate. For example, some submissions received in the public consultation suggest that guidance on disconnecting and on working hours should be flexible in order to reflect that fact that Ireland is an open economy, trading in a global environment. The guidance must accommodate companies and employees who are operating across multiple time zones. Similarly, flexible systems for logging in and out of work over a longer period of time were suggested to accommodate employees with caring duties. We will have to put some work into this but we are committed to doing so. My Department will work with other Departments to bring forward a national remote working strategy which will be published in December. I am looking forward to everybody contributing to the discussion and debate on that.

There are issues of concern with this Bill relating to health and safety and the protocol from the HSA. We will have the opportunity at a later Stage to tease through some of the points with the Labour Party. There are some issues that need to be teased out further but time does not permit me to do so today. I am also concerned by the distinction drawn in the Bill between public sector and non-public sector employees and their employers. Our health and safety legislation which governs health and safety standards in workplaces must be consistent across all employers, regardless of their status. We do not differentiate between the public and private sectors in that regard but we can tease through these issues at a later stage.

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