An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the Dáil today, explaining how he hopes the current situation leads to a different looking society in the future including greater working from home.
He said, “As we reopen our country and rebuild our economy, we have the opportunity to reshape our society in ways that will benefit our citizens for generations to come.
“We should seize those opportunities: greater home working, online education, e-health and telehealth, reduced unnecessary domestic and air travel, lower greenhouse emissions and cleaner air.”
This comes after a survey published by NUIG revealed that most people currently working from home would like to continue to do so when lockdown has ended, citing less commuting hours, reduced travel costs and more flexibility as the main advantages of working from home.
The survey found that 30% of people are finding that their productivity has increased since working from home began.
The Taoiseach also addressed the issue of travel, telling the Dáil:
“We must remember that we have a land border with Northern Ireland that we want to stay open, a common travel area with the UK that we want to preserve, and our right as European citizens to travel, work and study anywhere in the European Union, which we want to uphold.
“While these rights may be restricted for a time due to the pandemic and public health emergency, it is our policy to resume normal travel for business, leisure, study and visits to friends and relatives as soon as it’s safe to do so, but not before.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says the Government is examining ways to strengthen public health requirements for people entering the country. He says it is policy to resume normal travel for business and leisure as soon as it is safe to do so. But this will be months, not weeks. pic.twitter.com/WruhAGz50j
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 14, 2020
Ireland is set to enter its first phase of the easing of lockdown restrictions this coming Monday, May 18.
