The Law Library has published eight issues for debate on the Remote Working Bill. In this morning's Irish Times Kitty Holland reports that remote working is at risk of becoming “mommy-tracked”, or taken up disproportionately by women with care responsibilities. Laura Bambrick, ICTU's head of social policy expresses a concern that the “time lag” - between legislation on the right to request remote working and the return to offices already underway - could lead to a new gender divide.

Household basics, such as bread, milk and butter, have risen in price by between 10 and 30% as the cost of living moves centre stage in public discourse and political debate. Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of the death of Jim Larkin, and Siptu general secretary Joe Cunningham, addressing an event to mark the anniversary, said working for a wage that is insufficient to make ends meet is “socially obscene.”

In the Irish Examiner Elaine Loughlin reports that spending on external legal, HR, accountancy, and consultancy services by government departments has topped €30m. The figure includes a spend of €14.3m by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, with more than €10m allocated for costs associated with the National Broadband Plan. The figures do not include similar spending by the Departments of Education and Higher Education as spending for 2021 is still being calculated.

There was a significant amount of reflective media coverage marking the 50th anniversary yesterday of Bloody Sunday. I recommend Aoife Moore's account of her own family's experience of loss in the 50 years since from Saturday's Irish Examiner.

Zen

Watching First Dates Ireland last week (a programme that never fails to lift the spirits as optimism is hardwired into the participants), I was mildly amused by how much one of them reminded me of the actor Mark Rylance, probably the finest screen actor around these days (apart from Meryl the GOAT, obviously), and seen most recently as the odious sociopath tech billionaire in Don't Look Up (there's Meryl again).

It's been almost 30 years since I watched Rylance for the first time, in the brilliant BBC screen adaptation of John Healy's autobiography, The Grass Arena. Healy's book was a literary sensation and best seller upon its publication in 1988, and his story is a compelling one.

Your Zen this morning is drawn from Rylance's performance as soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Spielberg's excellent Bridge of Spies (currently available on Netflix). At least twice in the film Abel is asked if he is worried about his fate (which is really quite grim). He replies gently "Would it help?" In an anxious world, those are words to live by.

Have a great week.

Niall