Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In February 2022, 80,000 remote working jobs were advertised without location restrictions. People in rural areas without broadband are excluded from those jobs. They are being discriminated against.

In 2019, did we think it was possible to achieve the situation we are in? We have been told in the past that many things could not happen yet when the pandemic happened, things changed, and many of them for the better. The option to work from home has been an extraordinary success in many jobs. However, a person from a rural area without broadband is discriminated against.

Flexible working has been proven to boost morale and improve physical and mental well-being. It has the rewarding benefits of flexible working hours for the employer. Flexible working has reduced costs, increased productivity and creativity, and allowed for ease of management. It has improved well-being, staff retention and the ability to attract talent. Some 60% of human resource directors have seen an increase in work productivity, further identifying that businesses benefit from flexible working hours.

A hybrid model will develop whereby staff can have access to the workplace as required. For this to work successfully, we need the national broadband roll-out that is still being promised to people in our areas and might take until 2025. Black spots are still common in County Limerick. Broadband is important for everyone but it has been provided to those in built-up and city areas before people in rural areas. People in rural Ireland are being discriminated against because of the lack of infrastructure. How do we correct this? We must get more infrastructure and fast-track broadband for rural Ireland.

Working from home has benefited many families. Employees can go to the office two days a week and be at home three days a week. That has improved family life, morale and mental health. If we can find a balance, this can work for all. However, we must look at the roll-out of broadband in rural areas and not just cherry-pick the areas where companies think they can fast-track the roll-out because there are 1,000 houses while 100 houses in a rural area are left without broadband. That is discrimination against the people of rural Ireland. We need investment. We need a plan to be rolled out far more quickly than by 2025. We need it now.

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