Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It would be done in the same way as parental leave. If there is a refusal to grant it in what would seem to be reasonable circumstances, the worker takes the case. If, before the leave is taken and the employer suspects that the leave is not required and there is no objective reason for it, then the employer can make the referral to a third party for that examination. My point was that all of these hearings now must happen in public as a default. There is an option, however, for a hearing in private. The Zalewski judgment had not been issued at the time we drafted this Bill but now that it has, when we are having discussions at the next Stage - and fingers crossed we will get there - we would look at making sure it complies with the Workplace Relations Commission and the Zalewski ruling, and that there is a tendency towards anonymity on this case. I do not believe that anyone would want to put people into the situation where they would have to be public about it.