I echo my Labour Party colleague, Councillor Peter Horgan, who has called for a renewed national focus on supporting remote and hybrid work opportunities. The recent utterances of Irish billionaires so far removed from the realities of real work are completely out of touch with the reality of modern working practice in Ireland. We can see the benefits, whether a reduction in commuter chaos in our cities, better work-life balance, practical benefits for parents or the increased activity in local economies. We can see that hybrid and remote work works for workers. I have received a lot of contacts from workers in Cork in recent months about the multinationals in Cork, some of which do not recognise trade unions despite Labour Court support, removing flexible work and work-from-home policies. While I wholeheartedly support the multinationals across this country and the tens of thousands of jobs they provide, workers have based their parenting, school runs, where they live and how they get to work around these flexible work practices. Flexible work is a cornerstone of modern Ireland. What will this Government do to represent these workers against regressive moves by corporations and the super wealthy?

There is flexibility in the workplace in the current era compared with any other previous era. Many companies are still working through the aftermath of Covid. Many good practices have emerged. Some have been reviewed. At company level, there is a legislative framework governing the right to seek to work remotely. It is within that framework that I think companies to work with their employees with a view to getting satisfactory practices in place. Not every industry can facilitate remote or hybrid working but some can and do. Flexibility is key to recruitment now. If a company is not flexible, it may not get the human capital it requires.