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

I thank the Deputy. I should add that prior to the return to offices, which I hope will be in September or October, I plan to launch a publicity campaign on remote working. The information campaign will provide information and advice to employers and employees alike. I have a concern we might just drift back to the old normal. We have a window of opportunity to grab and I am determined we should grab it and begin the conversation in the workplace about what things will look like when we work from home, not when we have to but when there is a choice. We really need employers and employees to have this conversation now.

I very much agree with what the Deputy said. We tend to talk about this in the context of rural communities and moving away from the old adage there are no jobs there. This is no longer true. There are 50,000 remote jobs on offer throughout Europe and they can be anywhere, including anywhere in rural Ireland. We also have urban streets that have a lot of vacancy. There is a future for bricks and mortar retail and banks but there will be fewer of them. Just as it is true that those buildings are vacant in rural Ireland, they are also vacant in urban areas and we need to seize the opportunity to repurpose them.

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