Meath constituents invited to have their say to shape future of remote working in online event

Fine Gael wants to hear the views of people in Meath on remote working in an online event attended by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English.

Minister McEntee, who represents Meath East, and Minister English, who represents Meath West, are encouraging constituents to register online and take part in a discussion on remote working, which takes place on Thursday, 22^nd April at 8pm.

This is the sixth meeting in a series of online events taking place under the brand “Shape Your Future” which is being organised by Fine Gael.

The party would like to hear the views of members of the public on a range of issues and encourage engagement between them and their local representatives.

Speaking ahead of the event, Minister McEntee said: “I am delighted to participate in this Shape Your Future event with my colleague, Damien English, TD, to discuss the issue of remote working and to hear the views of people in Meath on the changes to our work patterns.

“While remote working has been accelerated by the pandemic, it is something that Fine Gael has been prioritising in recent years because of its potential to offer greater flexible working opportunities as well as making it easier to bring high quality well paid jobs to all parts of Ireland.

“Remote working has the potential to bring about positive changes to our lives as it can help people reduce their time commuting, provide an opportunity for rural areas in particular to thrive in the years ahead and lead to higher female-labour-market participation.

“The Programme for Government includes a number of commitments to expand Remote Working opportunities and I look forward to working with my colleagues to implementing the necessary laws, codes of practice and incentives to make it a permanent option for Meath people,” Minister McEntee concluded.

People can take part in the event by registering their details through Fine Gael’s dedicated website at https://www.finegael.ie/shapeyourfuture/meath/ . The event will take place on Thursday, 22^nd April at 8pm.

Minister English added: “The purpose of this online event is listen to the views of people who are adapting to new ways for working as a result of Covid-19 and to inform them of the work underway in making remote and flexible working a viable option for workers.

“We recently published Ireland’s first National Remote Work Strategy, which sets out plans to strengthen the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, to provide the infrastructure to work remotely. It also sets out clear guidance on how people can be empowered to work remotely from the office.

“There are plans underway to legislate to provide employees the right to request remote working, to introduce a legally admissible code of practice on the right to disconnect from work – covering phone calls, emails and switch-off time.

“As part of Our Rural Future, we will invest significantly in remote working infrastructure to enable more people to live and work in rural communities, including in Meath, regardless of where their employer is headquartered.

“We will also provide financial support to Local Authorities to bring vacant properties in Town Centres back into use as Remote Working Hubs, in addition to plans to revitalise our towns and villages to ensure balanced regional development.

“I would encourage people in Meath to sign up to the event and we look forward to engaging with them,” Minster English concluded.