Flexible Work and Commuter Delays: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Mairéad Farrell (SF), Galway West

The fact of the matter is remote working works. It works for workers, for businesses and for communities. Workers have really gained control of their work-life balance, businesses have been able to cut their overhead costs and workers and families are now far more involved in their local communities because they can be. I am deeply concerned about recent efforts to undermine these gains. This is a hit to workers across the board but workers in the financial sector have been hit particularly hard.
Workers of both AIB and Bank of Ireland were told last summer, out of the blue, of a new return to office protocol, after being hired under the premise they could work remotely. Both banks announced these changes without consulting the trade unions or workers themselves. Thankfully in December, the Financial Services Union negotiated an agreement with AIB that will allow workers to maintain their pre-existing remote working arrangements. However, no such agreement has been reached with the Bank of Ireland. Bank of Ireland workers in my constituency of Galway West are now mandated to work in Dublin eight days a month. That is an impossible ask for many workers trying to balance their family life and work, bearing in mind they were hired under the premise of being in Galway. I have met with the Financial Services Union and its demand is clear. It wants Bank of Ireland to engage in a meaningful discussion on this. These cases show the urgent need for better legislation on this issue - legislation that gives a right to flexible work and a right to a more equal and modern economy.
As we are talking about commuting, the reality of commuting in Galway city is, whether you are coming from outside or internally in Galway city, that it is disastrous. We have had a standstill traffic situation at peak times for far too long, for decades, and it is the result of underfunding of our infrastructure. We need to have a double track line from Athenry to Galway and it needs to be delivered now.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21