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

My predecessor signed agreements with the UK around Brexit. In fairness, we have a good few reciprocal agreements regarding social welfare contributions and pensions, etc. I have to acknowledge that. In this particular case, the UK has indicated it will not sign up for this agreement. Nevertheless, that does not stop us from having conversations. The Deputy is talking specifically about the PayPal workers. Those who are living and working in the North and paid by the UK-based employer PayPal are no longer frontier workers. The relevant tax, social benefits and employment protection arrangements for the UK will apply from the date of changeover of employer registration. The Deputy also mentioned the OECD. It is looking at this teleworking framework agreement and we are looking at it ourselves.

Switching over to the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Deputy knows how much I am promoting remote working. We have spent €150 million on providing remote working hubs right across the country. I have had conversations with counterparts in Northern Ireland to see how we can manage this on an all-island basis. I think that is the way to go. The OECD was here last year and had a conference in Cavan. It held Ireland up as an example of remote working and how we have progressed it. We are probably ahead of a lot of countries and maybe we could be ahead of a few more. I am happy to look at this because I am absolutely committed to remote working and the benefits it can bring to rural areas.

See this speech in context