Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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227. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the civil service blended working policy framework; if his Department, in collaboration with civil service employers, trade unions and staff associations have finalised and developed their tailored policies on blended working that are appropriate to their business needs and employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27021/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations was published on Thursday 31st March 2022. The Framework provides for a consistent facilitation of remote working across the Civil Service, appropriate to local business needs, while maintaining the Civil Service’s position as an employer of choice. This document was published following a thorough and productive engagement with employee representative bodies at a national level. It includes a template on which individual Government Departments can build their own local policies. The current status of progress on tailored, individual policies is for individual Departments to comment on, although in general, the Civil Service as a whole has kept pace on the development of their policies. Within my own Department, a draft local policy has undergone engagement with local staff representatives and is expected to be submitted to the local Management Board for further review at their next meeting. We expect the local policy to launch by the end of June 2022. This is broadly in keeping with the expected timeframe with other Departments.

I welcomed the publication of the Blended Working Policy Framework at its launch in March which marked the beginning of a new model of working in the Civil Service. The flexibility which blended working affords to both employees and their employers will be essential to the continued delivery of high quality services to Government, the public, and to business.

The publication and implementation of local policies is also welcomed, as Departments are preparing to introduce more sustainable arrangements for blended working and in a more balanced manner, allowing for face-to-face interaction and collaboration with colleagues, as well as the benefits of a remote working arrangement.