Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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229. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has had any discussions regarding the re-instatement of the working-from-home advice given the cost-of-living crisis and the cost of commuting for workers with no option but to drive to work. [31257/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are no plans to reinstate the working from home advice. The working from home guidance was a public health measure introduced in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government announced, on 10 February this year, a suite of measures to mitigate the impact of recent inflation on citizens and assist with rising costs of living. This package builds on the measures announced as part of Budget 2022, which included a range of measures to support citizens including social protection rate increases, increases in tax bands and other affordability measures.

These expenditure measures, along with the excise duty reduction on petrol and diesel introduced by my colleague the Minister for Finance and now extended until Budget day in October 2022, and the VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9% on gas and electricity bills until end October, amount to €1 billion in aggregate.

These measures provide substantial assistance towards mitigating the impact of rising prices. They have focused on temporary support measures that can quickly provide assistance while also reflecting the need to return the public finances to a sustainable position.

In terms of working from home, remote working for Civil Servants will be facilitated into the future on a blended basis. Access to blended working by civil servants will be dependent on Departments/Offices having the ability to meet the needs of the business. In general, remote working will not be available to employees on a 100 percent basis, as some physical attendance at workplaces will be required to facilitate face-to-face meetings, training and other key events deemed necessary by the employer.

My Department, in collaboration with Civil Service employers, Trade Unions and Staff Associations, has developed a Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations. I, along with Minister of State Smyth, published the Framework on 31 March.

The Framework focuses on the longer-term approach to remote working in the Civil Service and will assist in providing a consistent approach across the wider public service. The Framework supports commitments contained in a number of strategies which this Government has launched. These include, the National Remote Working Strategy, Our Rural Future, the Climate Action Plan and the National Planning Framework.

The Framework provides broad strategic direction to individual organisations in the Civil Service to develop tailored policies on blended working that are appropriate to their business needs and employees. It is anticipated that Departments and Offices will have these policies completed no later than end-Q2 2022. In developing their own policies, Civil Service Departments and Offices will have the flexibility to determine matters such as the proportion of time individual employees work remotely versus onsite and the roles that are suitable for blended working.