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

I thank the Labour Party for submitting this motion and facilitating this discussion. I listened carefully to the Deputies who have spoken today, both online in the earlier part of the debate and in person in the second half. There is a common and shared objective among them to make remote and flexible working a permanent feature of Ireland’s workforce.

I am sorry if I got a bit argumentative earlier but it is hard to accept when somebody comes in here and gives out that others have made submissions and had a chance to discuss this over the last year when that same person did not bother making the effort to make a submission during the public consultation on this matter. I am not talking about all Members of this House because plenty have contributed to this debate over the last year but others have come in here as if this was the first time they have been asked to discuss remote working with the Government. There was very strong public consultation around this matter and very interesting research submissions on it. I personally thought there would have been a lot more submissions; not from politicians but in general. However, the consultation helped us flesh out a conversation around the remote working legislation and bring it forward.

The Tánaiste is very clear on the legislation. It is before a committee for pre-legislative scrutiny. He is very open to making changes if we can and we will take that opportunity. We will work through that and we are trying to get the balance right. I agree with Deputy Mattie McGrath on this. We have to be sensible in our approach and try to achieve a balance that works for everybody, as best we possibly can. The proposed legislation will put a process in place for a new approach, by setting out the procedures to request remote working. That request will then be judged and independently assessed through a code of conduct and a plan that is put in place for each company. We are working to improve the legislation. We will see what comes back from the pre-legislative scrutiny process and see if we can enhance it.

Much has been made of the list of reasons why an employer can refuse a request for remote working, but that refusal has to be backed up by a business case. It is not just a case of saying the employee lives too close or something. The employer has to go beyond that and explain why they are refusing the request. It is not good enough just to pick a reason. That is not the intention. We have set out some areas where the conversation could be framed around those reasons.

To be very clear, this is still an open conversation. I hope the committee doing the pre-legislative scrutiny comes back very soon. We will then work through its recommendations and report to this House. The Tánaiste and the Cabinet are very clear that we are not opposing any proposals because of any gimmick. It is because the Bill is still a work in progress. This is a very timely motion and a timely conversation. The Labour Party and many others have strong views on this and want to go forward with the Bill. That is fine. Let us tease those out.

The draft right to request remote working legislative proposals are being brought forward by the Government in response to the commitment to make remote working a permanent feature of Ireland’s workforce in a way that can benefit all, economically, socially and environmentally. The Tánaiste published the remote working strategy over a year ago and it included a list of issues to be dealt with. Some have already been dealt with through the code of practice and changes in the budget, initiatives with hubs such as mapping, and so on. A lot is happening here. Another commitment under that strategy was the legislation that we are now bringing forward. The Tánaiste has been leading this conversation. It is certainly not one the Government is hiding from. Like everybody who spoke today, we would like to make remote working a positive feature of our work environment going forward and get that balance right.

In March 2020, people were sent home to try to work remotely in a way that was unplanned and not co-ordinated in many situations. They had to balance work, family, care and Covid, and were in a panic in some cases. It took a while to adapt and adjust but in most situations there was a positive outcome and employers and employees said the experience was positive and good. To build on that, we want to make it a permanent feature where we can, where it makes sense and where the job suits. It will not suit every job. We know and accept that. That is something we have to recognise and tease out. It is about getting the balance right between employers and employees, protecting the jobs we have and growing more of them. There are great benefits to remote working, including for families, communities, volunteering, climate, transport and many others. There is so much positivity around remote working, be that at home or in a hub provided through LEOs, local authorities, enterprise plans, Enterprise Ireland or the Department. A lot of effort has been made in that regard as well.

According to the research from the public consultation, there is a strong interest in the hybrid model, that is, some days working in the office and some days working at home. There is also very strong interest in working in a hub close to home. We need to capture all those choices and options. It is about giving people the choice and the option. Flexibility in a workforce is key. A major part of the success story of Irish job creation over the last number of years is that we are a very flexible nation when it comes to work. We need to build on that and make sure everybody is protected so we can continue to have a jobs-led recovery from Covid.

The right to request remote work has its roots in work done in recent years on promoting balanced regional development and the future of work. This conversation had started in the Department even before Covid but because of Covid that conversation took off at pace. More and more people can now see the benefits of remote working on all sides of the argument. It is a question of how we can make that a permanent feature. The 2020 programme for Government contains several commitments on the topic. Remote work is already a key consideration in Government policy documents such as the national economic plan, the climate action plan, the town centre living initiative and the smarter travel policy.

New regional enterprise plans to 2024 are currently being developed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. These are bottom-up plans being made in conjunction with all the stakeholders in the regions and various counties. We have launched five of the nine plans and there are four more to be launched. A big focus in all those enterprise plans is remote working, including the development of hubs and the development of procedures and processes to encourage people to work from home. We can see the benefits to our regions, towns and villages throughout the country. This can bring people back into those areas and breathe life into many towns and villages. That is what we are going to try to build on in order to develop our communities. The remaining enterprise plans will be published over the next few weeks. The State is committed to increasing remote work adoption in Ireland through removing barriers, developing infrastructure, providing guidance, raising awareness and leading by example in this area.

Some speakers said we need a plan for broadband. They might want to wake up because there is a plan for broadband. A spend of €5 billion has been committed to make sure broadband is rolled out. Of course we all want it to happen much quicker. We would rather it was there tomorrow. At least there is a plan in place and a contract signed. Part of this remote work strategy is a commitment that negotiations around speeding up that plan and that delivery will continue, while recognising that there were delays from Covid. It is wrong to make out that there is no plan. Thankfully, the cheque is signed and people now know broadband is on its way. Of course, every effort should be made to deliver that fibre broadband to everyone's home as quickly as we possibly can because access to top-class broadband is a game changer, for so many reasons. There is no doubt about that.

The right to request remote working Bill 2022 will provide employees with a right to request remote work and will provide a legal framework around which requesting, approving or refusing such a request can be based and judged independently.

It will also provide legal clarity to employers on their obligations for dealing with such requests. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment commenced on 9 February and continued on 2 March.

It is recognised that not all occupations, industries and roles within enterprise will be suitable for remote working. Therefore, even in cases where employers want to support workers and can be as flexible as possible, it will not always be an appropriate or suitable option. Technology changes by the day, however, and that could change as well. The Opposition's call to introduce a blanket right to remote working is not realistic. It does not recognise that, for some jobs, it just is not yet possible, and we need to bear that in mind. Many companies already offer remote working and the Bill is not intended to undermine existing remote working agreements, which may offer more favourable terms overall. Many of them offer remote or hybrid working from day one of the employment relationship. The Bill is intended primarily to act as a floor-level protection and to ensure workers, particularly those employees who currently have no access to remote working, will have an entitlement to make a request and to understand the employer's clear obligations to deal with it. The employer will not be able to ignore the request but must process it properly and fairly and with the option to work remotely if that is possible and if it makes sense.

The Government wants to give employees a choice, which is why we are progressing the legislation and why we will not oppose the motion. The conversation is a live one and the legislation will be enhanced and brought through these Houses in the weeks and months ahead. The Tánaiste is clear, and has said on a number of occasions, that as long as the business gets done and services are provided, employers should facilitate remote working where they can. We will do all we can as a Government, through our remote working strategy and the legislation, to make that an attractive option for everybody involved. I reiterate the research has captured that employers, employees and many organisations now recognise that remote working is, without doubt, a positive experience. Of course, as I said, the way it was rushed in at the start of the pandemic came with complications, but many of them have been ironed out and we can build on that. There are benefits for families, communities and the towns and villages where we live, by bringing life back into them through a positive remote working option, whether that is working at home or in hubs that will be developed in conjunction with the State or with employers, and that is what we want to build on.

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