Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

No more than other Deputies, I am very poorly qualified to lecture anybody on family-friendly policies or family-friendly engagement in the workplace. However, we have made tremendous progress. While the legislative measures are enormously important, ultimately they can only work if we have, at enterprise level, a culture of ensuring that provision is made for people to carry on their family lives. Traditionally, the view was that needs relating to caring commitments were paramount but many people have now come to realise that people in the workplace have other interests they wish to pursue, alongside their working lives, including study, leisure and so forth. A balance is intrinsically important from the perspective of the individual employee. Many employers have realised that when they introduce policies which facilitate employees who have caring responsibilities or other interests, everybody benefits, including the employers, through increased productivity on the part of the employee.

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