Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion before this House and thank my Labour Party colleagues for bringing it forward. The impact of the pandemic on the nation’s mental health is significant. We will be dealing with the fallout from the trauma and tragedy for many years to come. We need to recognise this as we formalise our policies and in how we organise society from here on in. A good start to this is recognising the opportunity the pandemic gave us to fully explore flexible and remote work. It has revolutionised and advanced the way we imagine work and there are many benefits to be harvested for all our well-being if we are bold enough to take that step for the better.

As this motion outlines, a more flexible working arrangement can be better for employers and employees. Empirical evidence has shown that companies and organisations that introduced employees to this method of work saw their trade increase by 25% to 30% and staff well-being increased twofold. Flexible working arrangements are also better for the climate, for work-life balance, for family-friendliness and for inclusion and diversity in the workplace, to name but a few. As the saying goes, anything worth doing is worth doing well. The Government’s remote working Bill has failed to do this. More robust protective legislation for employees is required. For instance, subjective reasons to allow an employer to deny a remote working request are not proportionate or transparent.

This is exacerbated by the fact that the appeals mechanism outlined in the draft heads of the Bill is far too ineffective and weak. For example, the right to disconnect, the right to set working hours, protection against the reduction of pay and access to overtime or premium pay must be built into the system. Furthermore, we need to rural-proof any legislation and policy that deals with flexible and remote working. For many years, rural transport has been the bane of ordinary workers' lives. Flexible working arrangements offer them a real opportunity not to have to spend most of the day in a car or in the rain and cold at bus stops. To accomplish this and to allow them do their jobs properly, the infrastructure must be provided.

If I had €1 for every time a constituent complained to me about the lack of sufficient broadband in County Wexford, I could fund many more remote working hubs in the county. This must be taken into consideration when we are discussing the real need to respond in this House to our new ways of working. We must embrace and plan for our future. Without doubt, flexible and remote working will play a major part in the modern workforce.

I support this motion and I thank the Labour Party for bringing it forward.

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