As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is leading on the legislative right to request remote work, and is providing guidance to employers and employees to promote the adoption of remote and hybrid working arrangements. Its #MakingRemoteWork communications campaign aims to raise awareness of the advice and information available from Government to help workers and employers facilitate more remote and blended working.
A central policy framework for blended working in the civil service, which is being led by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, will be finalised in the coming weeks. This framework will inform the development of organisation- level blended working policies tailored to the specific requirements of each Department and the offices, agencies and bodies under their remit, whilst ensuring a consistency of approach across key policy areas in the civil service. There is recognition also of a need to create opportunities for people to balance their working and personal lives more effectively where possible.
The Deputy will appreciate that many of the bodies and agencies under my Department’s remit provide frontline services and have been committed to maintaining these essential services to the public throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisations facilitate remote working where possible in accordance with the public health advice where operational and business needs allow but obviously this is not possible for all frontline staff in agencies such as An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, Forensic Science Ireland and others.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, members of An Garda Síochána were required to work from their usual locations with appropriate public health measures in place, to provide essential services. Garda staff who can carry out their duties remotely have been facilitated to work from home where possible and as roles and business needs allow. Garda information systems can be accessed remotely by staff members who have Garda-issued devices or secure tokens. Remote video conferencing and remote access is available on multiple devices including PCs, laptops and tablets. The framework for the management of public procurement is as per the requirements of EU and National procurement rules.
70% of Courts Service personnel are operational staff who are required to be on-site on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, to facilitate the running of the courts and deliver services to the public. Currently there is no formal programme in place regarding remote working, however staff requests to work remotely are facilitated where possible, depending on business needs. Access to cloud services for remote video conferencing is currently available to approximately 55% of staff. Supporting the principle of remote working, a programme to build and deliver a modern digital desktop to all staff is currently underway, to be delivered by Q2, 2022.
Since March 2020, all Irish Prison Service headquarters staff have had the option to work from home, in line with Government guidelines. A Blended Working Policy is to be introduced for Irish Prison Service headquarters staff in the coming months. The Irish Prison Service ICT directorate has provided the necessary software and hardware to enable access to services for remote video conferencing and the capacity to work remotely. The provision of this software and hardware was provided for under the existing OGP frameworks.
Due to the operational nature of the work carried out by the Criminal Assets Bureau and its standalone, secure information system, which can only be accessed on the premises, staff and officers are required to be available to attend at offices regularly. A limited number of staff whose duties are not confined to the standalone, secure system have the capacity to work from home and at present, 40-50% of staff currently avail of blended working. All staff have access to video conferencing as required. The Bureau adheres to Office of Government Procurement guidelines in regard to procurement.
The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) is following Department protocols to support the implementation of the National Remote Work Strategy. Approximately 90% of the Irish Film Classification Office have access to cloud services for remote video conferencing and the capacity to work remotely. Procurement is managed through my Department.
The National Remote Work Strategy is, and will continue to be supported by the Data Protection Commission and employees will be facilitated to work remotely in line with relevant legislation. All staff currently have access to cloud services for remote video conferencing and the capacity to work remotely. As the value of the required licences to facilitate this was below the €25K threshold, three quotes were received from registered suppliers and a contract was awarded to the most economically advantageous tender.
All Forensic Science Ireland staff who require external access to the IT network have been provided with it and PCs and other peripherals have been sourced through the relevant OGP Framework.
All staff in the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
(GSOC) are equipped to work remotely and have been working in this manner throughout the pandemic. Staff are enabled to avail of virtual meeting facilities where required. GSOC is committed to developing a blended working arrangement in line with the Government’s policy to support remote working into the future.
Facilities to work remotely are in place for all Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) staff members. The ISI pay for two professional video conferencing accounts. The cost of these accounts is below the threshold that requires a competitive tender process.
The Judicial Council is currently considering how best to implement the National Remote Work Strategy ‘Making Remote Work’. 100% of staff have access to cloud services for remote video conferencing and the capacity to work remotely.
The Legal Aid Board has sufficient equipment so that all Board staff can work remotely should the need arise again. Approximately 65% of Legal Aid Board staff currently have remote videoconferencing capability on their main remote working device. It is planned to increase this to as close as possible to 100% through the technical reconfiguration of existing equipment rather than additional investment.
All Private Security Authority (PSA) staff were facilitated to work remotely throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and the PSA will introduce a formal Blended Working Policy in 2022.
Property Services Regulatory Authority staff continue to work remotely, attending the office only where there is a specific need. 100% of permanent staff have access to cloud services. Procurement of these facilities is managed through my Department.
