Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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477.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department has considered how remote working might play a role in achieving the balanced population growth envisaged by the National Planning Framework; if he is developing innovative policies to make remote working more productive within the public service; and if he sees opportunities to develop systems collaboratively with the private sector to underpin the potential.[35016/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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A greater focus on quality of life and work-life balance has been one of the positive legacies of the pandemic. Together with developments in our digital infrastructure and national remote working policies, this will assist in transforming enterprise and workforce adaptability. In particular, the opportunity to live and work outside of traditional urban centres represents significant potential for achieving the balanced regional development and population growth envisaged by the National Planning Framework.

Eurostat reports that in 2023, 21.4 percent of people in Ireland usually work from home, with a further 15.5 sometimes doing so. While this represents a decline in the total since the height of the pandemic, the numbers working from home remain significantly above pre-pandemic figures, with the data demonstrating that remote and hybrid working having become the norm for many workers and businesses.

At present, people working remotely are disproportionately located in Dublin and the East of the country, reflecting the relatively high share of jobs in this region that are in sectors amenable to remote working, such as technology and finance. Nevertheless, over time, remote working has significant potential to enable a more even spread of high-value jobs across the country by reducing the geographical barriers to employment while expanding the pool of talent available to employers offering remote and hybrid working arrangements.

My Department published the National Remote Work Strategy in January 2021. The Strategy highlights the Government’s commitment to ensuring that remote work becomes a permanent feature in the Irish workplace in a way that maximises its economic, social and environmental benefits.

My Department also led the development and implementation of the Strategy through the Remote Work Interdepartmental Group (IDG) between 2020 and 2023. All 15 actions outlined in the Strategy have been delivered. The Remote Work IDG continues to meet to share information on remote working policy across Government. The objectives of the National Remote Work Strategy are closely aligned with other Government initiatives, including Our Rural Future and my own Department’s White Paper on Enterprise, all of which consider the potential of remote and other forms of flexible working to improve regional balance - as does the draft revision of the National Planning Framework itself.

I would highlight the following actions taken by various Government departments and other public bodies to facilitate remote work across all regions in both the private and public sectors:

• Legislating for the right to request remote working for all employees through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. The relevant sections of the Act were commenced in March 2024 following publication of the Code of Practice on the Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working.
• The ongoing development of the National Hub Network, facilitated by Connected Hubs. This initiative, led by the Department of Rural and Community Development, plays a vital role in supporting the National Remote Work Strategy by providing accessible, well-equipped remote working spaces throughout Ireland. With over 360 hubs across the country, and plans to expand to 400 by the end of 2025, Connected Hubs is helping to build vibrant local economies, revitalising communities and offering diverse services to remote workers, SMEs, and start-ups. These hubs are essential in enhancing labour market participation and promoting sustainable, flexible work options in line with government policy.
• Substantial funding has been invested by the Department of Rural and Community Development in the improvement of remote working facilities through a variety of programmes, with over €150 million invested to date. Successful projects are developed in collaboration with local authorities and communities with many vacant and derelict buildings converted into remote working hubs. Since 2017, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has approved funding of over €150 million for the establishment of some 270 enterprise hubs throughout Ireland. Capital funding for construction of physical infrastructure has also been complemented with funding for delivery of innovative programmatic supports to business once an enterprise hub is up and running.
• The Connected Hubs network is a key driver in Ireland’s push to support remote work and regional development. Aligned with policies like Our Rural Future and the forthcoming National Hub Strategy, the initiative empowers individuals to work remotely while staying rooted in their communities. Hubs provide essential infrastructure and services, from co-working spaces and conference facilities to specialist resources like podcast studios and maker spaces. Beyond workspace provision, they offer vital business supports such as mentoring, start-up accelerators, and sector-specific programmes. By promoting innovation and collaboration, Connected Hubs is shaping the future of work while contributing to balanced regional growth and sustainable development across Ireland.
• The National Remote Work Strategy emphasises the importance of enhancing Ireland’s digital and broadband connectivity to ensure that the potential of remote working is realised in communities in every part of Ireland. Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy sets ambitious targets, which include providing a Gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the government's initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland, the implementation of which has gained significant momentum post-Covid:
• - 301,500 premises are now available to order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 26 counties, with over 283,600 premises passed and available for immediate connection.
• - Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. Currently, 965 SCP sites (283 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs), which are publicly accessible sites, and 672 schools) have been installed and the high-speed broadband service has been switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for BCPs and the Department of Education for school SCPs.
• Ireland’s remote working policy environment and infrastructure are being promoted to both indigenous businesses and international investors as part of the Government’s agenda for balanced regional development, as enablers of talent attraction and retention and as part of Ireland’s value proposition as a destination for foreign direct investment.

The Blended Working Evaluation Model was circulated to Civil Service organisations on 31 July 2024. The overall purpose of the model is to enhance an agreed strategy and to create a common language and reusable tools to support the effectiveness of blended working for all organisations. The Blended Working Evaluation Model is designed to enable organisations to:

• Assess the impact of blended working.
• Gain insights into the impact of blended working on the workforce and organisation.
• Share learnings and identify areas for continuous improvement across the Civil Service.
• Meet strategic objective of the Workforce and organisations core theme of the Better Public Services – Public Service Transformation 2030 Strategy.

Overall, I am confident that the actions outlined above mean that remote working will make a significant contribution to achieving the balanced regional development and population growth aspired to the in the National Planning Framework, while ensuring that the impacts of remote work in terms of public service productivity are closely monitored and evaluated to inform future policy development and innovation.