Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly has urged the government to embrace remote working, saying it would improve the lives of workers and help ease pressure on Dublin’s transport infrastructure.
During a Labour motion on remote working (which saw the planned speaker, Kildare TD Mark Wall stuck in M50 traffic for over three hours), the opposition put pressure on the government to beef up remote working rights.
O’Reilly, TD for Dublin Fingal West, said “it really works for people. I have seen it in workplaces, as a representative and as a trade union official.”
“However, at the time, when we were processing that claim, there was something of a paternalistic attitude applied to the workers. It was almost as if remote working was a treat or a favour the boss might give you if you were perhaps good enough, but one that could be withdrawn at any moment and have the capacity to upend your family and work-life balance.”
O’Reilly said, “it is shocking that the attitude displayed 25 years ago is still in vogue today with this government.”
The Sinn Féin TD noted “there were nearly 6,000 incidents on the M50 in 2025, almost 800 of those being car crashes. That is nearly two a day. Some 60% of people in my town of Skerries commute by car. They have absolutely no choice. For those who do not commute by car, they get on overcrowded trains or stand and wait for buses, “ghost buses” as we call them, that sometimes do not arrive.”
“It is past time for the environment, workers, work-life balance, productivity, communities and families that proper consideration is given to workers having the right to remotely work.”
“Workers are not stupid. They know what works for them. They want to do well in their work, and they know they can do that by working remotely,” she said.
Research from Labour found that Dublin is ranked as the third-most congested city in Europe and the 11th-worst in the world, and employees in Ireland have no right to flexible and remote work, only having a right to request it from their employer.