I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this Bill today. I have long been a proponent of remote working. I attended a conference in Tubbercurry in 2018 that was organised by Grow Remote. It was one of the first conferences it held about organising work in this way. It had another one the year later in Athlone. I attended both of them because I saw the opportunity that remote working offered, particularly for rural areas. As has been mentioned, many rural communities have set up hubs. There is very poor Internet in many areas despite the roll-out of broadband. The roll-out has been very hit and miss in many rural communities. These hubs offer an opportunity for people to come together and be able to work remotely. The biggest opportunity is for employers. I have spoken to many employers. The opportunity to have somebody who can work from home means that employers often do not have to get additional office space when they have to expand and grow. It is a win-win for everybody at all times. I was very disappointed to hear the Minister of State's speech. It was so negative and stuck in the past. I often meet people who, because they cannot work remotely, think nobody else should either, which is a stupid concept. It makes sense for people to be able to do it. It makes sense for the economy. It makes sense for people not just in rural areas but in urban areas as well. It takes away congestion. It offers people flexibility in their lives. It has umpteen advantages for business to allow them to grow. Many of the back-office activities can be done from somebody's home. We often find when we ring the Oireachtas lines to speak to people who work for the Oireachtas that they are speaking to us from home, whether it is about a social welfare issue, a tax issue or whatever. It is because they have the opportunity to it. If we are able to ensure that people who work for the Oireachtas or work for the Government can work remotely, it makes absolute sense that people in the private sector should also have the same right and that we should guarantee those rights. In that context, I absolutely support what is proposed in this legislation. Government should look at it again and realise that it is really behind the curve on all of this. The future is to ensure that workers have the flexibility and that employers also have the flexibility to be able to employ people wherever it suits them best to work.

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