Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Northern Assembly recently passed legislation providing for statutory entitlement to at least ten days' paid leave for victims of domestic abuse. Similar protection is urgently needed here. We know that some organisations in the public and private sectors already provide domestic violence paid leave for their employees. This entitlement is usually supplemented with training for managers to ensure victims can secure the workplace support they need. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, undertook to include domestic violence paid leave in the forthcoming work-life balance Bill, but the draft heads of this legislation, as published last week, make no reference whatsoever to this promised workplace protection. Deputy O'Reilly and I published robust legislation in 2020 providing for ten days of paid leave for victims of domestic abuse. The legislation was drafted in consultation with the sector. It has been endorsed very widely by unions and the sector. We have had very wide engagement on the issue. There is wide support for the provisions of the Bill. It is broadly agreed that the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 is the legislation within which the protections should be placed. Our legislation received cross-party support during recent committee scrutiny of the Bill, yet at Government level, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Tánaiste have refused to engage on this proposal. Does the Taoiseach agree that there is an urgent need for a statutory entitlement to paid leave for victims of domestic violence? If that is the case, I ask him to support our legislation, which, incidentally, is before the committee again today.

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