Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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133. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of persons employed in his Department that have a formal agreement to work from home one day per week, two days per week and five days per week; his Department’s policy in respect of facilitating requests by persons to work from home; and the number of persons that have made requests to work from home in 2021 and to date in 2022, that have been declined. [44590/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department currently has a headcount of 600 staff members (correct as of end August 2022). In accordance with the Civil Service Blended Working Framework, published on 31^stMarch 2022, my Department has developed its own Blended Working Policy. On 1st July 2022, my Department introduced a pilot blended working scheme that facilitates flexible blended working arrangements for all eligible staff members on a pattern of up to a maximum of 5 days over a fortnight period on a 2 days / 3 days alternating pattern for office attendance as determined by business needs, with flexibility expected from staff on other days where there are particular business requirements. Pro-rata arrangements are in place for work-sharing staff members.

Due to the nature of work undertaken by my Department, there are some roles which are not amenable to blended working arrangements, such as the Watch Officer role in the Irish Coast Guard.

To date, no staff members in eligible roles have been declined flexible working arrangements during our phased transition back to the office from October 2021 or blended working arrangements during this pilot period which began on 1^stJuly 2022. Following this pilot period an evaluation of the effectiveness of the arrangements across a range of criteria will inform future developments.