Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is first necessary to recall the fact that there is a small number of jurisdictions internationally that have paid domestic violence leave. A number have paid leave and some of those have ten days. Some of those have ten days of unpaid leave such as, for example, in Australia. The number of countries that have paid domestic violence leave is small. There are states at an Australian level and within the United States and at provincial level n Canada. In the EU, we will be among the first European countries to have paid domestic violence leave. It is important to recall that we are on the cusp of this new change in bringing in this new type of legislation and that recognises the importance we place on supporting victims of domestic violence. It is part of the overall Government response to the epidemic of domestic violence and links in with the work the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is pursuing in the third national strategy.

In terms of the use of five days, this is what we are introducing as the initial element of leave. We have a designed a review clause in the legislation in order that the legislation will be reviewed after two years. It will be reviewed on a number of grounds and those will be enumerated in the review clause. In particular, it will be reviewed in terms of whether it would be appropriate to extend it further at that stage. That will allow for an analysis of the first two years, for us to look at the uptake, to see if the uptake has been significant or not and if there are other barriers to the uptake. We have looked at plenty of Bills before this committee where we have looked at reviews. Does one let them go on for a long time in order to give them a chance and then see any kinks in the legislation or does one do it quickly? I think that the two-year period is appropriate because it will give some time to work it through and then to examine it subsequently.

It is also important to remember that as well as the legislation itself, we are providing template policies for employers in terms of how they implement this legislation, as well as how they respond to the needs of employees who are victims of domestic violence, even outside of the strict issuing of leave. That may encompass situations such as when any employee has a need for more than five days. As the Deputy said, many employers are already very good and they will not need this provision but this is a statutory entitlement and that is what is important.

To respond to one of Deputy O’Reilly’s questions, this is a statutory entitlement. People who work with an employer that provides for greater levels of leave in their contract will of course be able to enjoy those greater levels of leave. In the same way, we have a statutory entitlement to annual leave but certain employers provide for longer levels of leave.

On the question that Deputy Sherlock asked about the regulating power, we are considering that at the moment. We are looking at the provisions that were put forward in the sick leave legislation surrounding the daily rate that is being provided for there. We see that as providing a potential model for how we will design the regulations on the daily rate.

Finally, there was the question as to why we are going in the direction of amending the Parental Leave Act, as opposed to the Organisation of Working Time Act. Even when we debated in December 2020, when the provision was originally introduced into this Dáil, I flagged at that stage that it was our view that the Organisation of Working Time Act was not the optimal legislative route, but that the optimal legislative route was to take existing legislation, such as the Parental Leave Act, which are defined to bring forward specific leaves such as domestic violence leave and force majeure leave. That route for the specific leaves that have been introduced has been to bring in a specific legislative device, rather than to rely on the Organisation of Working Time Act, which is essentially about implementing the European working time directive into Irish law.