The 2023 legislation introduced by the Government was a good first step but it needs to go further. Employers have to give a written reason they are refusing it if the right to request is used. However, in the Farrell v. Salesforce case in 2025, the WRC upheld a complaint because the employer did not respond within four weeks in terms of the deadline. The employee got €1,000 in compensation. It shows that the law has some effect. However, we need to go further because we are falling behind countries like Spain and Portugal that have much more robust right to work from home legislation as well as the right to disconnect. This Bill brings it to the next level. We definitely need to have more opportunities. There are certainly different circumstances where people cannot and will never be able to work from home but there are so many others where they can. It impacts in built-up suburban areas like in Dublin where so many people are caught up in congestion. However, as Members from more rural constituencies have pointed out, it also brings jobs and opportunities and keeps people in local communities. I have mentioned previously the practice of allowing software companies that have a lot of international employees to continue to set up shop in Dublin. They should be decentralised around the country, using broadband technology to be able to work from home or else use hubs and create the extra school places that are required. In the context of Dublin, people talk about the lack of opportunities for shops to stay open with people working from home. That is because planning is done badly. We need to actually build more houses in Dublin so people can actually live and work here and replace that type of commuter.

Sentiment score: 0.11