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

I thank Mr. Taft. That is very helpful. As Chair, I will ask a couple of brief questions, if I may. We have covered domestic violence leave extensively. I am disappointed by the tone and language of the IBEC submission, which is not reflective of the compassionate approach being taken by many employers. That is evident from what we know of employers already offering such leave. We have to recognise the reality that women employees in particular who go to an employer to seek such leave do so out of a place of immense courage, and that must be acknowledged. To identify as a victim of domestic violence takes incredible courage and we should acknowledge that. I agree with colleagues who stated that evidence or proof should not be necessary in such circumstances.

I wish to raise two other matters which are related. The first relates to a form of leave we in the Labour Party sought to introduce. Indeed, we tabled a Bill on reproductive health-related leave, which is the leave in question, in the Seanad and it received Government support. It is similar to the domestic violence leave proposal. It would involve an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act framework and it would provide for paid leave for employees such as women suffering early miscarriage or any employee who needs time off work for IVF or reproductive health-related reasons. The proposal we put forward involved medical certification because it is clear this is very much a health-related matter. We have been inundated with queries from women in particular who had to undergo early miscarriage and who currently have no specific right to time off to deal with the aftereffects of such a difficult time. What are the views of the witnesses on that form of leave which we are proposing as an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act?

On the flexible work point, I am very taken with the comments of WorkEqual in respect of the need for men to take up flexible leave in greater numbers to ensure it does not become seen solely as a women's issue. Will the witnesses comment on examples they have seen, particularly in Iceland, where there are good practice models and we can see flexible leave used in that way?

I have a similar question for Ms Buckley, who referred to a UCD study which showed that the take-up of flexible leave and remote working arrangements during Covid impacted adversely on women's career progression. How do we, as the Committee on Gender Equality, address that? I invite the representatives of WorkEqual to come in first on those points, to be followed by our guests from SIPTU.