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

There is a sense of urgency, but we also want to get this right. We set a very clear target that the WRC would report back to me with a code of practice by the end of January and that is what happened. I need to fully consider it now, which we are doing and we will get that done quickly. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, also has to do that under the legislation. We will finalise it and it will be a code of practice that will be in use under the legislation. We are on time, we are doing it and there is a sense of urgency around it.

I do not accept the Deputy's description that we have the worst of all worlds at the moment. Remote working has become a big part of the labour force environment over the last number of years and employees and employers have adapted to that reasonably well. We need more structure around that relationship and more certainty for both employees and employers, which is what the code of conduct is about. We now have that draft code of conduct and it needs to be signed off by two Government Departments. We are actively working on that and I suspect it will be done within the next couple of weeks.

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