Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 19, line 21, after "penalise" to insert ", or threaten penalisation of,".

The amendments to section 22 strengthen the provisions ensuring employees cannot be penalised or dismissed as a consequence of taking, or intending to take, paternity leave. The provisions of the Bill are, as far as is practicable, based on the corresponding provisions in the maternity protection Acts and family leave legislation. Section 22 derives from section 16(1) of the Parental Leave Act 1998 and section 16 of the Carer's Leave Act 2001, neither of which refers to threats to penalise. However, more modern legislation such as the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012 contain a provision that protects employees not just from penalisation but also from threatened penalisation. It is appropriate that we take the most up-to-date approach in this Bill also and, therefore, amendment No. 14 proposes to prohibit threatened penalisation as well as actual penalisation and amendment No. 15 proposes to prohibit threatened dismissal as well as actual dismissal.

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