Ms Julie Mernagh:

I will respond on the first point on whether employers are taking a stance on this and Ms Mulqueen might speak about 2019 and how the policy originated. When we first introduced the policy in 2019 we were unique. We were the first company in Ireland to do so. Since then 27 other Vodafone markets have introduced the policy globally. It certainly snowballed from there. When we introduced it we were unique but we have certainly seen it ramp up in the past 18 months. In recent months we have been inundated with requests from other organisations and representative groups, such as that of insurance bodies, asking us to present, perhaps in partnership with Women's Aid or the Rape Crisis Centre, to open up the conversation. The death of Ashling Murphy has triggered a bigger conversation about this. We are seeing an increase in requests for us to share our story. This certainly amplified over the past six months and during the pandemic.

The question we ask ourselves is how quickly we are taking action and whether we are taking it quickly enough. Banks are stepping forward to try to do this. Are we going at the pace we should be going at? I hope that when the legislation is enacted it will provide the mandate or commitment that all employers need to step up. In Vodafone we believe this is fundamentally part of our employees' lives. We have a responsibility to care about our employees not only in work but also in their personal lives outside of work and making sure we support them in the tough times as well as the good times. We are seeing this increase. Ms Mulqueen will discuss the policy in 2019.