Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I commend Deputy O'Reilly and her colleagues on bringing forward this important Bill. I am delighted to express the support of the Labour Party for it. We are delighted to support this Bill which is a very important measure in the context of worker's rights and women's rights. We all know just how gendered the issue of violence in the home and in domestic settings is and indeed, we have been reminded, all too painfully, of that recently with the focus on violence against women in the context of the horrific killing of Ashling Murphy. We are delighted to support this legislation.

I have taken on the role of chairing the Oireachtas Special Committee on Gender Equality which will be looking at other measures to support women in the workplace. The Labour Party has brought forward a reproductive health-related leave Bill which also builds on the Organisation of Working Time Act structures, as does this Bill. I appreciate that is why Deputy O'Reilly has used that structure and I take her point about the ten days leave.

I have two questions for Deputy O'Reilly. She referred to similar leave provisions having been introduced in New Zealand, in some Canadian provinces and in Australia. Which is the best model? Has she looked at which is the best of the jurisdictions? New Zealand is the one we have tended to focus on but is it ten days in all of those other jurisdictions? Second, given that this committee is currently considering which stakeholders to engage with on this and that Deputy O'Reilly has already done consultation herself, who would be most useful for us to engage directly with in the context of pre-legislative scrutiny?

Again, I wish to express my strong support for this really important women's rights and worker's rights measure.