Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At this moment in time in this State, we are being squeezed on all sides due to the rising cost of living, inaccessible healthcare, the mental health impact of a two-year pandemic and the stress of returning to the office. God forbid that a worker, couple or family might want to rent or buy a house of their own. I know the Government cannot solve all these issues overnight, but there are things it can do. I welcome that the Taoiseach appears to finally be listening to Sinn Féin and our proposals and is going to reduce the cost of petrol and diesel. Sinn Féin has solutions and has been putting forward housing solutions. We are willing to act quickly because our priority is ordinary people. Giving workers the right to flexibility is something that we and the Government can do. It can be done by this Government quickly to relieve some of the burden on workers.

For people with young families in particular, being able to work around their children improves their quality of life and makes them happier and more productive workers. That is what we should be looking to do, not keeping people in cars all day long, commuting for hours on end and coping with the cost of travel. People who are working all week and putting in hard hours to put food on the table are finding that their money stretches less and less each week. We are looking for ways to give those workers a break. I want to thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion, because that is what this looks to do.

For many people, working from home during the pandemic was the one silver lining in an otherwise dark two years. Therefore, it is very disappointing that the Government’s right to remote working legislation seems to be more focused on the Government’s right to refuse remote working. Workers and families are struggling. Everywhere we look, there are rising costs in food, fuel, heating, housing and clothing. We should now cut workers some slack and give people a right, where possible, to fit work around life instead of trying to fit life around work. All people are looking for is a chance and this Government should help to give them that.

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