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

The Deputy raises an important issue and it is something to which I will have to give some thought with my officials. There are different scenarios. Somebody who applies for a job in an office and gets it might then request the option of working from home one or two days a week. In that case, the employee is making the request and there is more of an obligation on him or her to provide the space from which he or she is going to work. Increasingly, however, jobs are being advertised as remote. About 50,000 jobs across Europe are now being advertised as remote and the employees can work from almost anywhere. In that scenario, there is probably more of an obligation on the employer. If it is not providing a workplace and is saying the employee has to work from his or her own home, I think the obligation on the employer is a bit different.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue because it has not really entered our deliberations thus far. I am grateful to him for bringing it up.

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