Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like other speakers, I welcome the motion. There was much that I liked in the wording of the motion. I commend Senator Currie on her proposal because she spoke to a number of important issues. Remote working is not the same as home working. It may be about hubs. She spoke about how important this is for rural areas, but also that the idea of a 15-minute city is crucial for cities. We do not want a hollowed-out city simply filled with office blocks where people commute but where they cannot live.

The motion contains many positive measures but because my time is limited, I will focus on the areas we need to strengthen because I think this is important. This is another moment in terms of the re-imagining of work, which is something that is important. It is unions very often that have led some of that debate. It was the Irish Women Workers Union that first pushed for the two-week holiday and the idea of leave. It was something no male-led union had ever done in Ireland. The union pushed for it and said that the way we think about work and its relationship with life, family and connection needs to be linked up. That is a wider conversation and it is appropriate at a time when we need to re-imagine work again given the way life has changed. Although there has been change, the way the working week has been planned has been very rigid for a long time. We have just about held on to the 40-hour working week, which again was won by unions. There has often been an invisibility of the reality of family life, care and community work that people are not paid to do. This is a really exciting moment but, as legislators, we must do it very carefully and strongly in a way that looks at the fact that it is only when one puts things strongly and firmly down in legislation and regulation that one gets best practice.

I wish to highlight issues concerning the private sector and the public sector. There are recommendations on the public sector, but the private sector needs strong regulation in this area as well. It is vital that we do not have a casualisation of work that comes with remote working. For too long we have seen, for example, that part-time work, which is usually done by women, got treated as somehow temporary or more casual when in fact it should be quality part-time work. Those who are working part time should still have pathways to progression. We do not want to create a new category in terms of remote workers being invisible when it comes to progression, greater responsibilities and opportunities. We have seen the casualisation of labour through the gig economy. It is important that remote working is a quality narrative of employment rather than a narrative of casualisation. The issues of health and safety have been mentioned. It is really important that these are not optional issues because the health and safety of workers are vital. We will need to empower a new kind of health and safety scrutiny of organisations that are using widescale remote working to ensure they give the right protections and supports to their workers. Issues of heat and electricity, outsourcing of costs and the socialisation of costs from organisations need to be looked at. We need a conversation on the strengthening of PRSI and this conversation dovetails with that. We need more PRSI from employers in Ireland.

The right to disconnect is important. Again, this is one area where a code of practice will not be enough. If we are talking about legislating for the right to request remote working, then we need to legislate for the right to disconnect as well. That needs to be put in law. It is important for that to happen in a meaningful way.

As well as looking at the economic metrics on the impact of remote work, I urge for the economic and social metrics to be looked at because both these issues are important.

The question of unions and the right to collective bargaining is important. It becomes more important when we have a workforce spread over diverse settings where people do not get to congregate. There needs to be a right to collective bargaining because it will drive best practice in this area. It will lead to quality outcomes. It needs to be in place all the more when it may be that unions need to contact people remotely or virtually. There is a great challenge to be addressed and I urge all parties here to speak to the Minister on this issue. Ireland needs to move on in this respect.

I am keen to point to the question of the kinds of digital hubs. They need to represent a quality environment. It is exciting for people in the west of Ireland and other places that these can be hubs that allow people to have a short commute instead of a long commute. We need to look at how this fits with ideas like the community hubs, other spaces for digital empowerment in the community and childcare services. There is a chance to create strong community spaces in this regard.

My final point relates to the digital divide. We need a strong reality check all the time. To be clear, as someone who is excited about the digital era and what we can do with it, I note the EU digital economy and society index for 2020 found that 44.6% of people in Ireland lack basic digital skills. We do not want to create a split in society. We need to create digital empowerment. I have put forward proposals that I hope others in the House might support in this regard. We need to look at empowering people not only to be workers but to be empowered co-creators of online spaces, including online workspaces.