The government should not take advice from tax-exile billionaires when considering the rights of workers, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney, who\u2019s the party\u2019s employment spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cBillionaire Denis O\u2019Brien, who was found by a tribunal to have given corrupt payments to Michael Lowry, has a problem with rights for ordinary workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking at a recent business event, O\u2019Brien described working from home as \u2018a load of nonsense\u2019 and part of an \u2018entitlement culture\u2019 which has \u2018totally destroyed our work ethic and compromised productivity\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the outset, the irony of a man – who was awarded a mobile phone licence after he made secret payments of \u00a3500,000 to a minister – decrying an entitlement culture should be noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is more important, is that he is factually wrong. Ireland is one of the most productive countries in the world and the right to work from home has helped to increase our labour force.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means that disabled people, lone parents and women with children, who are more at risk of being excluded from the employment market, are more likely to be able to take on jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is really nonsense, however, is the fact that the right to work from home in this country is so weak.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmployers must only consider a request \u2013 there is no obligation to offer working from home, as an option, wherever feasible.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of taking advice from tax-exile billionaires, the government should look at the facts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking from home is a hugely important measure that protects work-life balance and enhances people\u2019s ability to join the workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is really needed is a strengthening of the legislation, underpinning this right, so that it can\u2019t be arbitrarily refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegrettably, when I asked the Taoiseach today if this government intended to further bolster the right to work from home, he dodged the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
14th May, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government should not take advice from tax-exile billionaires when considering the rights of workers, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney, who\u2019s the party\u2019s employment spokesperson, said: \u201cBillionaire Denis O\u2019Brien, who was found by a tribunal to have given corrupt payments to Michael Lowry, has a problem with rights for ordinary workers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,497,654],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","category-sinead-gibney","category-workers-rights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n