Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bacik for her support. My understanding is that the model in New Zealand is ten days and that is seen as the optimum because it gives enough time for victims and survivors, should they need it, and enough comfort to employers that it will not be excessive. It also means that it is possible to do a certain amount of planning.

On the question of stakeholders, I would see this as being very clearly a worker's rights issue and an employment related issue. The Chairman of this committee has some experience in this area and she knows from representing workers that abuse can follow them into the workplace. Very often, people are left without any skills to cope with that. They do not have the language and do not know what they can offer a person who is a victim. There may be someone working in an organisation and the shop steward knows or can sense that there is an issue. However, the shop steward does not know what it is that he or she can practically offer to that person. In that context, I would encourage this committee to hear from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and specifically its women's committee. That is not to say that this is only a women's issue but it is an issue that predominantly impacts women. It would be remiss of me to give the impression that this legislation is only for women because it is not. It is for all victims and survivors but the sad and awful fact, as we all know because we live in the real world, is that women will be the majority beneficiaries. I would definitely encourage the committee to talk to ICTU. I would also encourage the committee to talk to NUIG and Vodafone, which have done this already. They have stepped ahead and as has been said previously, sometimes politicians are only running along behind the people. Often the people are ahead of us and we must make that effort to catch up. People have already arrived at a position where they are asking, "When?". They have established that it is necessary, they understand that it needs to happen and they want to know when it will be done.

I specifically put the provision into the Organisation of Working Time Act because I want domestic violence leave to go in the leave folder. Anyone who is familiar with human resources offices will know that there is a leave folder in the HR cabinet where organisations keep leave forms and information about the various forms of leave. I would like this leave to be there, to be mainstreamed. Perhaps mainstreamed is the wrong word but I am sure Deputy Bacik knows what I mean. I would like it to be another form of leave, rather than separate or special or one that requires going to a different room to apply. I want it to be part of the normal leave structure which is why I tried to house it in the Organisation of Working Time Act.