Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

Organisation of Working Time (Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Carol Baxter:

I recognise the committee's interest in being ambitious in the legislation. Five days for all employees is significant.

Regarding the definition of "coercive control", our understanding is an evolution, as Dr. Duvvury said. Generally, where a term is under development, we tend not to define it when working on legislation because the definition will become outdated quickly. If we do not define it, then it allows new understandings to be attached to it. We recommend that it not be defined at this point, but there may be different views on that.