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Address by Mr. Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce at the ninth Telework Ireland Annual Conference on 26th November, 2001

in the Galway Bay Golf and Country Club Hotel, Oranmore, County Galway

I am delighted to have been invited here today to address this, the ninth Annual Conference of Telework Ireland (TWI). This conference has become an important annual event for Ireland's community of eworking practitioners and those interested in learning more about the subject. This year, the conference aims to highlight a range of important issues that need to be addressed to develop the full potential of eWorking for business and regional development. The impressive line-up of speakers and the range of issues for discussion should ensure a very interesting and informative conference.

As some of you will know, I have been a regular participant at Telework Ireland's National Conferences for the past five years. I welcome this opportunity to provide you with a further update on progress on actions to create an environment which will stimulate e-working or teleworking opportunities.

Your conference theme, "Making eWork Work", is one which is close to my heart. E-work has come of age in many large international organisations and companies. However, Ireland has been slow to grasp the potential of this work method. In the United States, in contrast, eWork is now the primary work method for almost 10 million Americans, and is growing ever more rapidly each year.

When I realised the benefits which e-working could offer the Irish economy, I established the National Advisory Council on Teleworking. In response to its Report, I established the e-Work Action Forum in November 1999. The purpose of the Forum is to provide a focal point for the ongoing development of an environment which will stimulate teleworking employment opportunities and to provide a mechanism to monitor and progress the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Council's Report. Since addressing your conference last year, I am pleased to tell you that Ms. Nana Luke, your Chairperson, has become a member of the eWork Action Forum. Her contribution to the work of the Forum has been most welcome.

Since its establishment, the national Forum has achieved significant progress. Major actions undertaken include:

• the initiation of the eWork Business Awareness Campaign;
• the endorsement of the Code of Practice on e-Working by the Social Partners, in fulfilment of a commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness; and
• the pursuit of measures to improve the fiscal environment for e-work.

E-Work Business Awareness Campaign

At last year's conference I told you about Enterprise Ireland's eWork Business Awareness Campaign, which is aimed at influencing decision makers to consider eWork as a conventional business solution. A number of information products have been developed to facilitate this exercise, including briefing guides, a helpline, and a website. This year Enterprise Ireland have also undertaken a major media campaign to promote e-work through advertisements on national and local radio and in the national newspapers.

As part of the Awareness Campaign, Enterprise Ireland commissioned MRBI to conduct a survey during September/October this year. The survey shows that eWork is on the increase in Ireland. Not only is the number of companies up, from 10% to 12% in the past 12 months, but so too is the number of employees in those companies who eWork, up from an average of 4.5 employees to 6 employees. Mr. Damian Loscher of MRBI will be giving greater insight into the findings in his presentation here today.

The Awareness Campaign represents a focused effort to motivate Irish businesses to recognise the genuine potential of E-Work to address their needs. We are hopeful that these efforts will bear fruit and businesses will realise that e-working is a powerful tool to improve their competitiveness.

E-Working in the Irish Civil Service

The Forum attaches a particular importance to the introduction of e-work into the civil service as the Forum believes that this Government should lead by example in encouraging the uptake of e-work.

I am happy to report that our own Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has decided to undertake a pilot e-work project of six months duration. This will involve 11 staff across the spectrum of grades from clerical to senior management. Contracts have been signed with the staff concerned and preparations, such as arranging the installation of ISDN lines, are now in train. The pilot is expected to start during the next month

Fiscal environment

The National Council recommended that Ireland become e-work friendly from a fiscal viewpoint, as there were a number of uncertainties in relation to the tax treatment of e-workers which could act as a barrier to the uptake of this method of working. These uncertainties 0stemmed from the fact that much of Irish taxation legislation was drawn up in an area before e-working was contemplated. For this reason, a commitment was included in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness that a review would be undertaken of the relevant fiscal structures.

As part of this process, the e-Work Action Forum, our Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Enterprise Ireland and the Information Society Commission, collectively commissioned an evaluation from KPMG to examine the fiscal barriers to e-work and to consider how the tax system could assist in the movement towards a greater penetration of e-working within a short time frame. The KPMG Report "eWorking in Ireland Fiscal Barriers and Incentives" recognized that many of the uncertainties could be removed by a clarifying Statement of Practice from the Revenue Commissioners. In August last, the Revenue Commissioners issued a leaflet “e-Working and Tax” which provides welcome clarification and certainty in relation to areas such as benefit in kind on computer and other employer provided equipment, home expenses and capital gains tax.

Conclusion

Advances in ICT's, shifts in social attitudes and changes in economic conditions have heralded new ways of working. The importance of e-work has been recognised in the eEurope Action Plan as extremely relevant to the European Union's strategic goal of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based international economy, capable of sustained economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. This Government is committed to playing its part in ensuring that the full potential of e-work is developed. Through the realisation of certain focussed measures to encourage the uptake of e-work we have the capacity to build an economy where both employers and workers can benefit. Employers can gain a more productive, more flexible workforce and employees can benefit from the opportunity to achieve a better work/life balance through the flexibility offered by e-working.

I wish you a productive and interesting Conference and I am very confident that Ireland, through leadership and our quality people, will fully contribute to and benefit from many teleworking initiatives and opportunities in the exciting years ahead.