Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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Ar dtús ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoiste as an deis ár mBille a phlé. I have been a member of the climate committee, the gender equality committee and the foreign affairs and defence committee but this is my first time on this side of the fence. I know the time of the committee members is scarce and valuable and I am very grateful for their attention to what I am proposing in the Bill, which is a period of parental bereavement leave guaranteed as a right in law for parents who are employees.

It is not often that legislation involving employee leave involves a matter of such exquisite sensitivity. As I outlined in the briefing document, if the death of a child is anathema to us as a society, then it is an annihilation for their parents. I believe there is an unfilled space here for the State. There is an as yet unfulfilled duty on the State to protect these parents when they are employees and the unthinkable, the unimaginable, has become their reality. The Bill would help the State to fill that space, fulfil that duty and further establish itself as informed, progressive, insightful and humane on the matter of worker's rights and employment. I have chosen to appear alone today as I believe that what I am proposing is positive, straightforward, compassionate and uncontroversial. I believe that, overall, it is very much in keeping with the ethos and purpose of the committee and its care for families and what happens to them throughout what can be a complicated, difficult and even shocking journey which can come to a brutal halt with the loss of a beloved son or daughter.

In short, the Bill amends the Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006 to entitle employee parents whose child has died to the legal right to time off work. For the purposes of the Bill, the child is under the age of 18 or a child stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy, birth date and death date being the same. The proposed leave is separate and distinct from all other leave, with no negative impact on continuous service or any calculations of benefits accruing from same. The term is not less than ten days for each child. It should be taken within 42 days, or six weeks ,of the child dying, with day 1 being the date of death. As members know, parents can already avail of this kind of valued and valuable leave in the civil and public service. That they can do so signals humanity, solidarity and respect for bereaved employees in the fullness of their lives, not merely in the role they fulfil in an organisation or agency. This Bill proposes to extend that provision and care to the private sector because, at this time of unspeakable trauma, no parent should be having to rely on annual leave or any other kind of leave at the perhaps not-so-tender mercies of an employer to take the time they need to attend to arrangements and official obligations or, indeed, to themselves and their families.

I am particularly anxious to look after lower-paid parents, who might be in demanding front-facing roles or jobs that are largely anonymous. In the immediate aftermath of their child's death, no bereaved parent should be left in a position where their attendance in the workplace is required, either by employer demand or financial or continuous service necessity. Top management might get oceans of discretionary leave, but an ordinary worker might not. The Bill seeks to protect them and all parents who are bereaved. There is no social or employment hierarchy of parental love or loss.

What I am proposing is equitable and mutually respectful for employee and employer alike, as the definition in terms of the parental bereavement leave will make it clear to both what is and can be expected. There is more detail in the briefing note, which I am happy to elaborate on further, but I trust that what I have set out to do here is clear in its need, purpose and provisions.