Employment Rights Dail Éireann — 2021-09-15 ============================================================ Maurice Quinlivan (SF), Limerick City Since the announcement by the Government of the phased return to work from 20 September, many workers have expressed concerns to us about what that will mean for remote and blended working in the future. From the Tánaiste's response, it seems we are a good bit away from having the right of workers to request remote working delivered into law. In the absence of that firm legal footing for workers, will he publicly state that the Government's preferred option is for employers and managers to agree with workers, their trade unions and representatives a blended working programme that takes into account the health and safety of workers? This means ensuring engagement with workers, their trade unions and representative bodies as the phased return to on-site working happens. Furthermore, will the Government lead by example in this regard by ensuring remote and blended working options are offered to workers in both the civil and public service? That would be a good start in that regard. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-09-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:34+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-09-15