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Flexible Work Practices

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 September 2021

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Questions (150)

Emer Higgins

Question:

150. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps taken by his Department to support the implementation of the national remote work strategy Making Remote Work; the approximate number or percentage of staff within his Department who have access to cloud services for remote videoconferencing and the capacity to work remotely; his plans to increase this percentage; the framework under which procurement for this is managed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45369/21]

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Written answers

Staff of my department have been working in line with Government COVID-19 guidance, which had provided for home working to continue where possible with the exception of roles where the nature of the work did not lend itself to remote working. Following the Taoiseach's announcement on the 1st of September, my department is now in the process of introducing a phased return to the workplace.

In relation to the implementation of the national remote work strategy Making Remote Work in my department, a central policy framework for Blended Working in the Civil Service will be finalised in conjunction with employee representatives over the coming months. This framework will inform the development of organisation level blended working policies tailored to the specific requirements of each department and Office, whilst ensuring a consistency of approach across key policy areas.

Staff of my department have the ability to participate in video and web conferencing meetings on multiple platforms and can join a meeting on a desktop, laptop, mobile phone or landline. Between my department and the Department of Education* , we have approximately 700 Cisco Webex seats to enable staff members to host meetings on the Webex platform. The Webex seats were procured in accordance with the Office of Government Procurement’s guidelines for procuring goods and services.

*The Department of Education ICT unit provides ICT shared services for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

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