I thank the Labour Party for bringing this Bill to the House this morning. I listened to the Minister of State's speech. He and the Government really need to wake up to the fact that remote working can benefit not only workers and their families, but local businesses and communities as well. The Minister of State knows that coming from a county like Mayo. He also knows that if people with disabilities - really capable people - were given the opportunity to work remotely, they could live in their own communities and work in a way they wish to and in a way that would be hugely beneficial to employers. We can have that conversation in a constructive and inclusive way that can benefit everybody. It is about quality of life. The Minister of State will know from his past football experience about all the clubs that are amalgamating in Mayo because we do not have the people living in rural Ireland. How many of those people are living and working in Dublin, which is already congested? Is it any wonder that Dublin has won more All-Ireland championships than Mayo? The solution that could lead to Mayo getting the Sam Maguire Cup is to have proper remote working so that people can live there and do not have to truck up to Dublin and move all their lives here, but can live in Castlebar. Deputy O'Reilly should not laugh. This is a very serious issue, but there is nothing here but opportunity. We have long argued for the right to request remote and flexible working. I point the Minister of State in the direction of the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill in Northern Ireland, which was brought forward by the Minister for the Economy there, my colleague Caoimhe Archibald. That legislation addresses many of the work-life balance issues that could be incorporated here. This is about progressive rights of workers. The imbalance must be addressed. I look forward to the results of the public consultation that the Government has conducted to review the right to request remote working in legislation. This Bill provides a fair and structured framework for requesting remote working, whereby requests can only be refused on a clear and objective grounds. It is reasonable. That is why we are asking that employers be fair and reasonable too. Most of the employers and the employers' organisations that I speak to want to get this right. The Government needs to work with them to ensure they do. Yesterday we spoke about families being priced out of urban centres as a result of house prices increasing by almost 50% since 2020. We are going to have people paying mortgages in their eighties if the Government does not look at things differently and use opportunities like this.

Sentiment score: 0.19