Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

To be practical, on the issue of parental leave, for example, the Minister rightly said we have a social partnership model here. In the negotiation on that Bill, which is one aspect of the type of work-life balance arrangements we could set in place, IBEC almost ruled out any possible changes despite the fact that we are one of the few countries in the European Union that does not allow for paid parental leave. Our provisions in that regard run completely counter to the intent of the report he has just lauded. How can the Minister explain the Government, on the one hand, talking up work-life balance and trying to provide for quality of life while, on the other, legislation yet to be passed by the House provides nothing in that direction?

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