Cabinet is set to sign off on the legal changes needed to give every household in Ireland a one-off €100 electricity credit.

The €100 credit will be operated by ESB Networks and will be automatically deducted from people’s electricity bills.

The payment is not means tested and people will not need to take any action to access it.

Should the legislation be approved by Cabinet this morning, it will be considered by the Oireachtas next week before being introduced at the end of March.

Meanwhile, ministers will also finalise new draft laws giving employees a legal right to request remote working.

The legislation will allow workers to appeal to the Workplace Relations Commission if a company will not let them work from home.

The Tánaiste Leo Varadkar yesterday rejected calls for the legislation to guarantee workers a right to work from home, rather than just the right to request it.

The legislation will set out the grounds under which employers can reject a request for remote working as well as measures for resolving any potential disputes.

Dr Laura Bambrick from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions ICTU told Newstalk that the new laws will make the process more transparent.

“It will give us details like how long you have to be with your employer before making your request and how long your employer has to respond to that request,” she said.

“If they are going to turn down your request, they have to set down in writing their reasons.

“If you are not happy, you will be able to challenge that, either through the internal process or by taking a case to the WRC”.

She said she expects to the see the laws in place within six months.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin employment spokesperson Louise O’Reilly said workers should have the right to have remote working - not just the right to request it.

She said workers also need the right to disconnect and called on the Government to expedite both pieces of legislation “as a matter of urgency”.