The percentage of companies using teleworking in Ireland is still quite small, though growing.

One in 10 of a 500-company sample surveyed in Ireland by the Market Research Bureau of Ireland (MRBI) stated that they undertook one or more forms of e-working, a popular name for teleworking.

The reasons given were many and varied, including greater flexibility for workers and improved staff retention, saving time, eliminating travel, fewer distractions and reduced overheads.

"The big question about e-work is 'what does it do for me?', and for employers the main benefit is staff retention," says Pat Maher, executive director enterprise with Enterprise Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland has been running a major e-work project called "eWork" for some time. This is targeted at companies, and provides information on its implementation, databases of consultants, training and technical solutions, and other resources.

"Our experience is that a company wants to have people working with them in-house for a while before they start e-working," says Mr Maher. It's all to do with issues of trust and management. Traditional styles of control leave some managers worried about how they can be sure the work is being done when the worker is not physically in the office.

If, on the other hand, the worker is known, trusted and valued, and has to move or needs to be at home, then offering the option of teleworking can be a very good solution.

There are, of course, certain costs to be met, but computers are getting cheaper all the time, and ISDN is widely available.

There are issues, too, as to whether the person is self-employed or employed, whether the PC is a benefit-in-kind for tax purposes, and so on. The Department of Finance is looking at simplifying these areas.

On the plus side we have an Irish code of practice on e-working that won a major European award last year from the European Commission. Endorsed by the Government, IBEC and ICTU, the code aims to encourage best practice on companies engaged in e-work activities to the mutual benefit of employers and employees.

Telework Ireland is an association for teleworkers of all kinds, and has been promoting mainstream teleworking in Ireland since 1993. It now has about 150 members, many of them self-employed individuals, while others have corporate membership.

The association has been involved in several projects, including the ADAPT project, under which 100 people were trained in localisation and teleworking skills last year. The association has produced two manuals, one for employers and managers who wish to implement a teleworking policy, and the other for individuals seeking to establish a telework-based business.

Nana Luke, the Telework Ireland chairperson, agrees that companies are using teleworking more for retention than for taking on new employees. She points out that there are more people looking for employment by teleworking than there are openings.

"Teleworking is becoming more prevalent, especially in corporates, but there is still a reluctance to employ teleworkers first off, because we are still in the early stages of adoption," she says.

"It is good that Enterprise Ireland is encouraging companies to offer teleworking opportunities, because then management styles will change, and companies will have the experience of managing remotely, more comfortably."

She predicts that will then lead them to use contractors and finally employ people new to them. Once the market has opened up, teleworking can help to bring people into the workforce who, until now, could not have contemplated taking a job.

For example, Telework Ireland is running a project for carers in the Cavan-Monaghan region. This received feasibility funding under the Peace and Reconciliation cross-border programme and has now been approved by CAIT.

"We are going to train carers in IT, teleworking skills and e-business skills, in order to provide them with an income without leaving home and to help overcome their isolation. We are initially taking about 20 carers, and we hope that this will become a model for carers in other regions."