Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator and thank her for her engagement with me and my officials on this point. Section 13 inserts a new section 21A into the Parental Leave Act that sets out the process for the consideration of a dispute between an employer and an employee related to Part 2 of this Bill. Section 21A(6) sets out that an adjudication officer or the Labour Court shall not assess the merits of the decision of an employer or a refusal of a request made under Part IIA.This is an important provision. The Senator is right because, and we have always been up front about this, the Bill does not introduce an automatic right to flexible working. It is a right to request such working. In fairness, this has always been described as a right to request. Any dispute can only be in relation to the request process and the procedure set out in respect of whether the employer has complied with the various processes set out in the legislation. The Senator's proposed amendment would extend the power of the adjudication officer or the Labour Court beyond what is set out in the Bill and would look at the reasoning and question the reasoning the employer used. I know that is the Senator's intent, but it is not what we are in a position to legislate at this point, nor is it what we were ever proposing to legislate for. That is our position on amendment No. 46.

The same concern arises in the context of amendment No. 63. This would provide a right to remote working. Again, this is not what we are purporting to provide here. It is important to say that we have strengthened the process of the adjudication. Bringing in the code of practice will be important in terms of ensuring that there is a robust examination of the process the employer has undertaken regarding consideration of a request. Ultimately, however, this legislation provides for a right to request. We all speak about the changed work circumstances, but it is important to recognise that here are many workplaces in which remote working is not possible. All of us are lucky that many of the jobs we do can now be done remotely, but large parts of the workforce do not enjoy this ability. It is important that we recognise this and the fact that the additional benefits are not fully and evenly distributed as yet. We must also recognise that in certain workplaces a right to request remote working is not going to be a reality because working remotely simply does not meet the requirements of that particular workplace now.