Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

For all of us to understand the impact and for anyone watching, could the Deputy outline the impact of similar legislation in jurisdictions like New Zealand and Canada where it is already in place? It has had a profound impact on people once it has been introduced.

In practice, how can we envisage the Bill working? To an extent it depends on the degree of trust between employers and employees. I hope we would all envisage that employers would give leave and any allowances they can to employees in those circumstances but the Bill allows for employers to refuse an application for leave if they have reasonable grounds for believing an employee is not entitled to the necessary violence leave concerned. That is probably a necessary provision as well. How can we ensure that an already vulnerable person is not denied leave that he or she is entitled to by an employer acting in bad faith? That might be an unusual scenario but I wonder how it will play out if this leave can be refused.