Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Nobody likes the Bill is effectively what the Minister is saying. I take what he said in good faith and if he is willing to look at the timelines and the grounds for refusal, that is fair comment. We will work with him on that but he will have to appreciate that the power balance in any of these situations very much lies with the employer. Workers are unlikely to feel very confident in going through this process if they feel it will diminish their opportunities for advancement in the workplace in the long term.

As the Minister will be aware, there are any number of family and environmental benefits to working remotely. The gender equality issue also weighs heavily when we are entering this space because remote working does benefit gender equality in the workplace. We are happy to work with him and we hope he can be true to his word.

See this speech in context