Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Labour Party for bringing this legislation forward. Remote and flexible work is a vital part of our lives now. It is a huge opportunity for many to find a better work-life balance, for businesses to innovate and for local communities to benefit from development and commerce happening in a more geographically balanced way. The Social Democrats have always championed the rights of workers and will always do so. Remote working, in particular, is an area I have long championed. I will also introduce a Bill in the coming weeks that will deal with remote and flexible work. The goal here is to build a sustainable, flexible, remote working regime that provides the necessary framework to facilitate a fair, clear and transparent approach to remote working. The current system is confusing because it is so unintuitive. When the right to request was introduced, it was sold to the public as an important change that would have a real impact on how people could work remotely and flexibly. That illusion, though, was shattered by the realisation that the refusal of a request can be for arbitrary reasons, not based on business needs or any objective necessity whereby work cannot be done remotely. The frustration felt by people at this is tangible when you speak to anyone affected. They cannot understand why this Government would bother legislating for a right to request that is so weak when they could already ask their employers for changes to their working arrangements and be refused arbitrarily. The way work has changed means people can do their jobs effectively from anywhere. Caithfimid cinntiú go bhfuil ár ndlíthe ag coinneáil suas leis sin. We all understand that not every job can be done flexibly or remotely but we have advanced in leaps and bounds when it comes to the number of jobs that can. It is not that long ago that the concept of online meetings, hybrid working and working from home in general were very foreign concepts to many people. For many, it was impossible because they did not have the Internet at home or the required technology to have virtual meetings or because those they worked with were not familiar with these tools. Many of these barriers have gone now and we have the chance to create a meaningful and participatory workforce, particularly for groups historically excluded, like single mothers and people with disabilities. We have whole businesses that communicate, create, market and deliver services completely online. This has meant less time spent commuting and more money going into local businesses and economies, more parent-friendly workplaces and a better work-life balance. Despite these developments, however, and more people are in fully remote jobs, we are also seeing workers with hybrid and flexible arrangements being ordered back to the office by both private and public sector employers. This is often without consultation, without warning and ignoring the fact that people have shaped their lives around the flexibility that is now being taken away from them. Is léir le blianta beaga anuas go bhfuil buntáiste ollmhór ag baint le hobair ón mbaile, go gcoinníonn sé airgead sa phobal, go gcuireann sé le saol clainne agus saol pearsanta daoine, agus nach bhfuil drochthionchar aige ar an obair a dhéanann daoine. Tá sé cosúil leis na haonaid Gteic sa Ghaeltacht agus tá ionaid don chianoabair ann ar fud na cruinne. Má táimid ag iarraidh toradh na hinfheistíochta seo a fheiceáil, caithfimid níos mó a dhéanamh. We had a golden opportunity to enshrine remote and flexible working, but we have been let down with a right to request remote working that is not a right at all. The current framework grants employees only a right to request remote working, which, for an increasing number of employees, is refused or revoked. Like so many aspects of workers' rights in Ireland, we have created a system where the employee has no power and the refusal of something that may make no difference to their productivity but will make a massive difference to their lives can be arbitrarily refused. The current Act leaves people with hours-long commutes, the financial and climate burden of running a car, the daily strain of rushing to and from work and the stress of managing family lives. We know all these things can push people out of the workforce, particularly women, single parents and people with disabilities. It leaves us with congested roads, packed trains and buses and decreased revenue for small local businesses. We need a real right to remote and flexible working, and that is what this Bill seeks to do. I read an op-ed by a Government TD this morning that referenced this Bill and framed legislation for a right to remote working as pitting employers against employees. This framing does a huge disservice to our role as legislators and the importance of clarity and transparency for both employers and employees. The right proposed in this Bill and in my own upcoming legislation is couched in what is reasonably practicable in a workplace and gives certainty to all involved on what is expected of them. The framing today that this Bill goes too far does not acknowledge that this Bill and any suggestions around remote work have always been caveated with the understanding that not every job can be done remotely or flexibly. The Minister of State spoke at length on the current legislation but failed to see the point that the current legislative regime does not have any reasonable ground or objective criteria to apply to requests. It is wholly opaque and only feeds the frustration of arrangements being unreasonably denied in a way that is completely legal. Nobody should have to deal with an unjust decision like this being fully supported by our employment legal framework. We need a real system defined by reasonable expectations of employers and employees, with an entitlement from day one. A right to request remote work has been a source of frustration for so many workers, who realise that when their request is unreasonably denied, their "right" is not particularly useful in changing their situation or helping them to deal with an unfair denial of remote and flexible working arrangements.

Sentiment score: 0.07