Rose Conway-Walsh urges right to request remote working
Rose Conway-Walsh argued that remote working can benefit workers, their families, local businesses and rural communities, and urged the Government to adopt a right to request remote and flexible working. She supported the Bill as a fair, structured framework in which requests can only be refused on clear and objective grounds and referenced a Good Jobs Bill in the North put forward by a colleague.
Remote working benefits
She told the minister that remote working would help workers — including many people with disabilities — to live in their own communities while remaining productive for employers. She said remote work could improve quality of life for families and bolster local businesses and communities.
Rural communities and sport
Drawing on her experience from a county like Mayo, she warned that population loss is forcing clubs to amalgamate and that many people have relocated to an already congested Dublin. She argued that proper remote working arrangements would allow people to live in places such as Council Bar and work locally rather than moving away.
Legislative stance and comparisons
She reiterated long-standing support for the right to request remote and flexible working and noted the Government's public consultation reviewing that right. She pointed to a Good Jobs Bill in the North introduced by a colleague as addressing work-life balance issues that could inform domestic legislation. She said the Bill under consideration provides a fair and structured framework for making and assessing requests.
Employers, fairness and housing pressures
She called on employers to be fair and reasonable and said most employers she speaks to want to get remote working right. She also warned about housing pressures, saying house prices have risen almost 50% since 2020 and that current trends could leave families paying mortgages into their 80s unless alternatives such as remote working are pursued.
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Minister, I listened to your speech and really the government and yourself need to wake up to the fact that remote working can benefit not only the workers and their families but local businesses and communities as well. And you know that coming from a county like Mayo, you also know the number of people with disabilities, really, really capable people who given the opportunity to remote work could live in their own communities and work in a way that they wish to. And work 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. Now, you will know from your past football experience as well, Minister, that you know all the clubs that are amalgamating in Mayo because we don't have the people living in rural Ireland. Now, how many of those people are living and working in an already congested Dublin? Is it any wonder they have more All-Irelands than Mayo have, you know? But the solution maybe to Mayo getting the Sam McGuire is to have proper remote working so that people can live there, that they don't have to be trucking up here, they don't have to move all their lives there. They can live in Council Bar and to live in – and don't be laughing, Louise O'Reilly – that they can live and work there. This is a very, very serious issue and it is an opportunity. There is nothing here but opportunities. We have long argued that the right to request remote and flexible working. I also want to point you in the direction of the Good Jobs Bill in the North that Minister Kiva Archibald, my own colleague, has brought forward. Again, that addresses many of the work-life balance issues that I think could be incorporated here. These are about progressive rights of workers. The imbalance must be addressed and I look forward to the results, obviously, of the Government's public consultation reviewing the right to request remote working in legislation that was conducted. But this Bill today provides a fair and structured framework for requesting remote working where requests can only be refused on clear and objective grounds. This is reasonable and that is why we are asking that employers are fair and reasonable too. Most of the employers and the employer organisations that I speak to as well want to get this right. They want to get it right and we need to work with them or you need to work with them as a Government to ensure that they do. Yesterday, we spoke about families being priced out of urban centres from house prices, increasing almost 50% since 2020. Minister, we are going to have people paying mortgages here in their 80s if you don't look at things differently and use opportunities like this. Thank you.
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