Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2025
353. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of remote working requests made under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 from March 2024 to date; the number of requests approved and rejected by employers, broken down by civil service and private sector, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31903/25]
View answer351. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of people working full-time or part-time in the private sector in roles that are fully on-site, hybrid, or fully remote from 2022 to the present, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31899/25]
View answerThe sudden onset of widespread remote working during the pandemic has led to a broader acceptance by employers and workers of remote working as a viable long-term option with remote and hybrid working arrangements having become a new normal for many workers.
The Government is committed to facilitating remote working in a way which maximises its economic, social and environmental benefits. The Government delivered all 15 actions outlined in the National Remote Work Strategy, the implementation of which were overseen the by the Remote Work Interdepartmental Group based in my Department. Programme for Government 2025, Securing Ireland’s Future, re-affirms this commitment to promoting flexible working arrangements that benefit both workers and employers.
An important action delivered under the National Remote Work Strategy has been legislating for the right for all employees to request a remote working arrangement through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. The relevant provisions of the Act were commenced on 6 March 2024. Employers are obliged to have regard to the Code of Practice and the other requirements of the Act when considering requests for remote working. Employees have recourse to the Workplace Relations Commission if the employer fails to comply with the legislation. There is a need to balance the right to request remote working and at the need to support a productive and competitive business environment.
I am advised that at present, there is no central data collection for requests for remote working arrangements made, approved or rejected in the private under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act. Similarly, I have also been advised by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation that no data is held centrally for the number of civil servants applying for, or availing of, remote working arrangements, with this data being held by individual Departments.
In terms of the number of workers working from home in the private sector, the Central Statistics Office has advised that while it does not currently have a specific indicator for employment public/private enterprises, NACE sections B-N and R-S are sometimes used to represent the private sector.
On this basis, the CSO reports that, according to the most recent Labour Force Survey, in the first quarter of 2025, 413,500 (or 22%) people working in NACE categories B-N and R-S were ‘mainly’ working from home, with another 294,900 (or 16%) ‘sometimes’ working from home. Taken together, this means that over 708,000 people - or 37% of those in working in NACE categories B-N and R-S were working from home in some form in the first quarter of 2025. In absolute terms, this is the highest number on record. While this represents a decline since the pandemic, the proportion of workers working from home has been relatively stable since the ending of pandemic restrictions in early 2022, with absolute numbers increasing along with the overall expansion of Ireland’s labour force, with the data also showing a notable shift to hybrid working since 2022.
Further details for the number of people working from home and on-site for selected NACE categories, as well as for all persons in the labour force, for the first quarter of each year since 2022 are shown in table 1 below. Additional information can also be found in Table 2 (attached).
The data shows that remote working remains strong, and it is worth highlighting the contribution made by remote working and the Government’s initiatives to facilitate this in achieving Ireland’s inclusive and highly-performing labour market.
|
11-30 June 2024 |
Jul-24 |
Aug-24 |
Sep-24 |
Oct-24 |
Nov-24 |
Dec-24 |
Jan-25 |
Feb-25 |
Mar-25 |
Apr-25 |
May-25 |
1-11 June 2025 |
|
0 |
0 |
18 |
59 |
179 |
60 |
180 |
226 |
446 |
258 |
134 |
294 |
56 |
