It\u2019s time that the Government introduced a real, enforceable right to remote working, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on employment, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAllowing staff to work from home, where possible, has been recommended by both the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to reduce the impact of oil price pressures on consumers due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis advice adds weight to what we already know \u2013 that remote working is better for employees, better for their pockets, and better for our planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s high time the Government listened to the evidence and introduced an enforceable right to remote working. Instead, employees currently have to make do with a \u2018right to request”, which is completely unenforceable for most workers, doesn’t assess business needs, and forces people to needlessly commute to the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can’t afford to wait as the Government fails to act in any real way to increase the numbers of people who are able to work remotely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s insulting that the T\u00e1naiste is contemplating work from home recommendations to save fuel and money for citizens when the Government has actively obstructed the retention and wider adoption of remote working. We need a clear, fair and enforceable right to working remotely \u2013 something this Government has repeatedly stated it doesn\u2019t want to implement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m now planning to introduce a bill to establish a real, enforceable right to remote working, so we can have a clear, fair, common sense system that can help with our work-life balance, our productivity, and our commutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge the Government to put their money where their mouth is by backing my legislation to show they are serious about properly supporting people to work from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 25, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s time that the Government introduced a real, enforceable right to remote working, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on employment, said: \u201cAllowing staff to work from home, where possible, has been recommended by both the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the International Energy Agency […]<\/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":[684,824,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","category-remote-working","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n