Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

Has the Government not been monitoring the WRC cases on their legislation? It is crazy that the Government would consider a right to request that is simply not working as fair. How out of touch can it be with the thousands of workers in this country who can work from home, but given what has happened in the WRC, are simply not in a position to put additional pressure on themselves and their families by taking a case?
That is what is happening.
I recently tabled a motion on commuter chaos. That, too, was opposed by Government. That motion included simple solutions to try to improve the work-life balance of thousands of commuters and their families, yet Government opposed it. Is Government totally opposed to the work-life balance of those who are commuting and can work from home in a hybrid or flexible way?
The legislation that my colleague has brought forward does not give carte blanche to remote work. It will not force anybody into remote work. It will not erode workplace culture, as has been said by some speakers. It acknowledges that remote work is not for everybody and includes rights for employers to refuse remote work - a part of the Bill that has been acknowledged by some employer organisations.
The Minister compared our right to request remote work with our colleagues across the EU. What he forgets, and maybe we should ask whether it was a deliberate attempt to forget, is that these countries have proper public transport. In many cases, they are subsidised by the state.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18