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

As previously discussed the new subsection (13)(h) inserts a review clause for provisions under the new Part 2A of the Parental Leave Act 1998. We discussed this on Committee Stage. I know Senator Black was not here, but she was ably represented by her colleague on this issue.

I have brought amendments which make explicit in the legislation that the review will include a consideration of whether the right to request flexible working should be extended to all employees. When we brought in this legislation we wrote that remote working applies to all employees. Flexible working, which is broader than remote working and includes other elements, is for carers and parents as set out under the legislation. Some of the additionality provided for under flexible working could be very appealing to a lot of employees, particularly truncated weeks or more flexible working hours. As part of the agreement with the then Tánaiste and current Taoiseach, amalgamation of the two Bills to extend flexible work to broader categories will be explicitly considered as part of the review.