Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The important thing is that we get this right. This legislation was only enacted in April this year. It has not been going on for a very long time. The Deputy knows how the WRC works on something as complex as this, although it is not that complicated to be fair. It wants to build consensus between the two sides so that the code of practice is robust and makes a real difference to people's lives in terms of a request of an employer for remote working options. It wants to make sure that employers will respond as we expect and hope they will. The important thing is to get it right.

There are also time considerations. If we can get this done before the end of January, it will be good work. It is very new in terms of industrial relations. This is a good and very progressive provision that will contribute to changing work practices but we have to make sure that it works. I will not rush the WRC on this but I expect that by the end of January we will have clarity and, I hope, a new code of practice that will be in operation at that stage.

See this speech in context