Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Responsibility for Government policy on remote working lies with my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. As the Deputy may be aware, under current social security arrangements, it is open to workers resident in Northern Ireland who are working with a southern-based company to work from home one day per week and to remain attached to the PRSI system here. If they work two days or more from home in Northern lreland, they will generally be subject to UK social security legislation.

My Department co-operates with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland on the Cross Border Partnership Employment Services, CBPES. CBPES provides information to workers and jobseekers on employment-related issues on both sides of the Border. The other organisations represented on the partnership are the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and the union, Unite.

If the Deputy is aware of issues that cross-Border workers face in the context of social security arrangements, I ask him to please forward those specific details to my Department and I will request officials to look into the matter. As policy responsibility for the wider issues referred to by the Deputy are not within the remit of my Department, this matter is not being considered by it for budget 2024. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

See this speech in context