Rose Conway-Walsh: Calls for Right to Remote Work Amid Congestion
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed flexible and remote working, arguing workers need more than a right to ask — they need meaningful protections and outcomes-focused systems. She criticised employers, including the public sector, for forcing staff back to offices and blamed transport failures for worsening commutes.
Motion and stance
She thanked the Labour Party for bringing the motion forward and said she shared much of its content. She expressed a passionate belief in flexible working hours and the opportunities remote working can present for workers, families and local communities.
Workers' rights and workplace practice
She highlighted that workers in Ireland currently have no right to remote working - they only have a right to ask and a right to be refused. She acknowledged some jobs cannot be done remotely but argued for a comprehensive conversation about changing work patterns, trust, productivity and measuring outcomes rather than outputs.
Commuting, congestion and transport failures
She linked the pushback against remote work with the daily reality of long commutes, gridlocked roads and unreliable public transport. She noted Dublin is the 11th most congested city in the world, with gridlocked commuter routes and overcrowded or delayed trains, and said vital public transport projects are being stalled or abandoned year after year.
Rural transport and joined-up planning
She warned that in rural Ireland the problem is more acute, with no joined-up thinking between public transport systems. She argued that instead of building in what works, government actions are pushing people back onto roads at a breaking point, undermining mental health, family time and productivity gains seen where remote and flexible working has been adopted.
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I want to thank the Labour Party for bringing this motion forward. I think we share almost all of what is in this motion. And indeed, I passionately believe in flexible working hours and the opportunities that it can present. But this motion goes to the heart of the daily reality for workers. The stress of long commutes, gridlocked roads and the unreliable public transport. Workers in Ireland have no right to remote working. They have a right to ask and a right to be refused. Now, I completely understand. I'm a pragmatic person. I understand that there are jobs and many jobs that don't lend themselves to working from home or remote working. But I think we need to have a comprehensive conversation around how work patterns are changing and how remote working can benefit not only the people themselves, the workers themselves, but their families, but also local communities as well. And I think we can have that in a very constructive way that can benefit everybody. We're seeing more employers, including the public sector, forcing workers back into office, regardless of whether their work can be done from home. And I don't think that's right. This is a workers' rights issue. It's also about trust, productivity, work-life balance. And it can work brilliantly where employers and employees embrace the system. And also, as I spoke about earlier, about the measurement of outcomes. This is always about outcomes, not even outputs, I'd say, outcomes, and how that can be done. And if systems have to be set up so that can be done in a way where there's confidence between the employer and the employee, then certainly that should be done. The thousands of workers' remote and flexible working has meant more time with their families, less stress, better mental health, and often higher productivity. Yet instead of building in what works, the government is pushing back on people onto roads who are a breaking point. Dublin is the 11th most congested city in the world. Computer routes are gridlocked. Trains are overcrowded or delayed. And the vital public transport projects are stalled or abandoned year after year. And this congestion does not exist by accident. It exists because the government failure to deliver transport infrastructure to properly funded public transport and to legislate for modern, flexible working. In rural Ireland, it's even more evident. There is no joined-up thinking between the public transport systems as well.
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