Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1390. To ask the Minister for Health the way in which his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit are accommodating requests for persons to work from home. [42759/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The public service, including my own Department and agencies under the aegis of my Department are currently working in line with Government COVID-19 guidance, which provides for home working to continue where possible. A central policy framework for Blended Working in the Civil Service will be finalised in conjunction with employee representatives over the coming months, and after that it is expected that the public service will follow suit. This framework will inform the development of organisation level blended working policies tailored to the specific requirements of each Department/Office/agency, whilst ensuring a consistency of approach across the sectors.

My Department has established an internal Blended Working Group involving key Corporate functional areas which is examining the practical implications of facilitating blended working by staff in the Department of Health. This will be ongoing over the coming months and will take account of central policy on remote working from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. An application process will form part of the Framework, and this will be put in place at the appropriate time.

In line with the Government campaign - #MakingRemoteWork – I am supportive of facilitating all reasonable and practical applications for blended working, while ensuring the continued effective and efficient delivery of business.