Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I reject and refute what the Minister of State has just said. Amendment No. 11 provides specifically for the employer who can produce a compelling business case to be exempt from the terms of the flexibility on the basis of what we have already said in the course of this debate. By not accepting this amendment, in effect, the Minister of State is protecting wayward employers who deserve no protection in instances where there is no compelling business case and where flexibility should be allowed. We have built that into the amendment. That is part of it. It is worthless and pointless for the Minister to hide behind excuses in this case.

The aim of the amendment is to provide employees with an opportunity to request flexible time from their employers. If that can be provided everybody can live together happily ever after. If it cannot be provided then the employer only has to produce a compelling business case. That is not a big deal in terms of administration for any decent employer. I agree with previous speakers. We all recognise that the majority of employers in this State are reasonable people and we would expect them to get on and deal with an amendment such as this. The complete inflexibility on the part of the Minister of State seeks to protect wayward employers. It is most unfortunate that a more progressive view of this cannot be taken so that we can deal with this issue once and for all. It is what is already happening in a substantial number of places and the Minister of State should not seek to protect wayward and unscrupulous employers.

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