Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate my disappointment that the Minister, after smearing the Opposition regarding the Bill, ran out the door. She made a number of statements that do not stand up to scrutiny. I find it difficult to believe her speech was written by civil servants.

The pregnant workers' directive entitles women to 14 weeks' maternity leave and requires them to take two weeks. I would like the Minister at some point to come back to correct that. The Bill is about ensuring that mothers can exercise their rights, but they can decide, if they so choose, to share that particular right. The Minister's exposition of the pregnant workers' directive is utterly wrong and should be corrected on the floor of the Dáil. She should look up the directive to see what it contains. She should also examine what other countries are doing. There has never been a Commission fine; that is complete and utter nonsense. The excuses for opposing Opposition Bills are becoming ever more interesting and complicated. This is a progressive Bill to deal in all likelihood with a small number of families who want and fully choose to avail of its provisions and the rights furnished in it.

The Minister referred to breastfeeding. She is correct to highlight the importance of breastfeeding. Which of the young fathers among us has not helped their partners and wives with expressed breast milk when their wives want to go out, have to deal with other matters or are not in the family home that day? Most fathers I know are expert in assisting their partners and wives with giving expressed breast milk to babies. What the Minister said about breastfeeding is another bogus argument on her part.

The Bill is about mothers and families, and giving the choice to the small number of them who will avail of it. We are talking particularly about families where the mother is the main breadwinner or where mothers are self-employed and do not have the entitlements that many employees have. It is likely that a small number of people will take it up, but it could be life-changing for those who want to do it. No one will force anyone to do it. The Minister's assertion that employers will force people to do it is contrary to the facts.

I have no doubt that the Government has been hobbled by major employers and their representatives regarding this Bill and that is why it is opposing it. The major law firms and recruitment companies have made considerable commentary about the Bill. I compliment my colleagues on succeeding in getting it noticed. However, those companies are talking to their clients who presumably will not want men taking leave unexpectedly in the way that pregnant women and new mothers can - as well as men and other partners. They do not want that to happen. I suspect that is what this right-wing Fine Gael Government has succumbed to - utter hobbling by industry, big business and employers who do not want the additional rights in the Bill given to families.

That is the fundamental problem here. That is the truth of what is happening. It has been dressed up very nicely by the Minister, but it has been dressed up wrongly. This provision exists in other countries and is taken up by a small number of people. No issue relating to European law has ever arisen in those countries. None of the public commentary on the Bill by the major law firms with European law departments has mentioned breaches of the pregnant workers' directive. This is a red herring.

The Bill needs to be supported and passed by the House to give families the option to continue their lives and do what they want to do. The pregnant workers' directive requires women to take two weeks and it is likely that most mothers will want a higher number of the 14 weeks, even those who want to avail of this measure. However, they will have the choice as to whether they want to give some of it to the husband or partner and that will be entirely up to them.

If changes to the Bill are needed, they can be made on Committee Stage. There will be public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny. We know it is the right thing to do. We do not need to consult big business to see whether we should put this forward. We do not need to take the warnings of law firms as they warn their employer clients about the Bill. We do not need to go with that. We in this House need to do what is right, and give extra rights and entitlements to families. This has to happen and the Minister of State should reflect carefully because I know he is not someone who listens to what big businesses say.

I would appreciate it if the Minister of State looked at this issue closely. It was new information to me that he was a Minister of State at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, but I am glad to hear it. He should look at this issue closely to see what the rights and wrongs are and whether the Cabinet made the wrong choice in opposing the Bill this week which is when it presumably was brought before it. It is a progressive measure and fundamentally misleading to the House to describe it as regressive. It is progressive, a word that has been used by many of the law firms that have commented on it. As Deputy Lahart stated, the Oireachtas Library and Research Service has come in against what the Minister stated. As she stated to Deputy Lisa Chambers, Fine Gael is ideologically opposed to the Bill. That is the truth of the matter. We can see the evidence in those who commented on the Bill and warned their clients and members about it during the summer. They had reason to be concerned and warn people about the Bill. We now find that Fine Gael is opposing it for utterly bogus reasons.

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