For families remote working can be life exchanging and it has been life changing for many. It has meant they are able to juggle the responsibilities of work and family life. We know that women are often excluded from the workplace because of these issues. Allowing people to work from home is not allowing them to take it handy or to doss but what it means is they are able to have work-life balance and a home-life balance. Many people still have childcare but the difference is that at 5 o'clock they can finish rather than commuting to collect their children and then commuting back home. It makes a real difference to people's lives. I represent a constituency covering part of Cork city which has gridlock with traffic. Allowing people to work from home will get them out of cars and get cars off the road. It is a win right across the board. Right now, there are no solutions to the gridlock in Cork and based on what other Deputies have said it is the same right across the State. Every city and every town has huge issues but the Government's attitude to workers' rights is shockingly poor. We need solutions. The Government will suggest using public transport but the bus service is a joke. When they turn up, they are not on time if they turn up at all. We are talking about the northern ring road which will not be built for ten or 15 years and the northern distributor road will be another ten years. That means ten more years of gridlock in Cork because of this Government. No good comes from people sitting in their cars for hours on end. We brought in a traffic plan in Cork that actually made matters worse. It stopped the right turn over St. Patrick’s Bridge and Christy Ring Bridge and just kept people in traffic for much longer. Until we have a proper traffic plan and until people are allowed to work from home, workers will face impossible commutes. This is a workers’ rights issue, but it is much bigger than that. It is about families and people, and this Government’s attitude must change when it comes to workers’ rights.

Sentiment score: -0.02