If the Minister of State looks at the TomTom Traffic Index, he will see that people in Limerick - the city I represent - lost 74 hours in traffic congestion last year. That is three whole days wasting away at the Mackey roundabout, on the Corbally Road, in Raheen, on the Dock Road, on Henry Street, on the M20 and on the N7 - the list goes on. What this Government is doing in opposing our Bill here is saying to people that this is grand and that they can spend an entire week of their lives in the car every single year. Remote working has benefited our city and region enormously. It has enabled people to move home from cities like Dublin, where they would have had to live because they work there, to raise their families and have a better quality of life. It allows young working professionals to avail of lower house prices and contribute to their local economy and community. The Government's so-called work-life balance legislation is so weak and watery that workers are being marched back in to the office. The Minister of State talks about us being a leader on this. In countries like Portugal, if you have a child up to the age of eight you have a statutory right to work from home without prior negotiation. In 2022, the Dutch Parliament, under a centre-right government, made working from home a legal right. If an employer in the Netherlands declines it, they have to provide a weighty business or safety reason to do so. The burden of proof that is being placed on the company in these jurisdictions is much higher than it is here. The Minister of State cannot really compare us to the Continent because most of these things are delivered through collective bargaining.
Sentiment score: -0.00
There are much stronger sectoral agreements. My bottom line is this: if the job works on Wi-Fi, it does not need diesel. What I would say when I look at big business in this country is that if your management style only works when people are sitting in front of you, that is not leadership or mentoring; that is control freakery. The reality that is evident with regard to this Bill this morning and other matters is this is not a Government for workers. This is the most anti-worker Government I can remember in recent years. Fine Gael constantly says it will make work pay but the reality is that under Fine Gael, it is workers who have to pay. This Government has delayed the living wage and backslided on the increases in sick pay. School secretaries, caretakers and probably special needs assistants, SNAs, and teachers now, have all gone out on strike and 18- and 19-year-olds are paid less than the minimum wage. The fact of the matter is that this Government has a magic money tree provided that you are a property developer, an institutional developer or a fast food tycoon. They will be looked after and the rest of us have to pay.
Sentiment score: 0.03
Come over, comrade.
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Hear, hear.
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Hear, hear.
Sentiment score: 0.00