Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on Second Stage of this Bill and will support its progress today. There are increasing concerns that unbalanced work-life relationships can result in reduced health and performance outcomes for individuals, families and organisations. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic, when it was necessary to fuse work life with home life due to the sudden work-from-home requirements.

I am a working man, a big family man and, as an avid runner and chairman of the Louth county board, a big sports man. There are many facets of my life that are important to me. This Bill recognises the rights of humans to lives that include work, recreation, family and recuperation.

I wish to speak about the importance of work-life balance for parents and carers, especially considering that respite services ground to a halt during Covid. Work-life balance for this cohort is not just a health issue, but a human rights one. This is badly needed legislation.

Ireland's birth rate increased by over 16% to 16,131 in the first quarter of this year in comparison with the same period in 2021. Additionally, Family Carers Ireland, in its biennial state of caring report, reported that 1,484 carers were caring for a total of 1,984 people across a range of caring situations – parents caring for a child with an illness or disability, those caring for an adult, carers of older people and those caring for multiple people. Carers do a fantastic job and, as I have often stated in the House, they save the State a fortune. We must do more to provide additional flexibility so as to ensure that parents and carers can be supported in balancing their working and family lives.

I congratulate the Minister and his team on the work done to date. There are a few points I wish to raise about the Bill. Under section 5 on carer's leave, a new section 13A seeks to amend the Parental Leave Act 1998 to entitle certain employees to leave for medical care purposes, providing for five days of unpaid carer's leave per employee per 12 consecutive months, with no notice period required. I agree with the principle of a person having unquestionable access to medical leave and, as such, I agree with the amendment. I acknowledge as well that the employee can, if income is a necessity, take statutory force majeureleave during which he or she is entitled to be paid.

A new section 13B will be inserted in the 1998 Act to provide for the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes. This is applicable to employees with children up to the age of 12 years and carers as defined under the directive. I agree with this change, which will set limitations on eligibility, but for the most part, the flexibility will significantly assist the carer's work-life balance.

The Bill also amends the Maternity Protection Act 1994 to extend the current entitlement to breastfeeding-lactation breaks from six months to two years post partum. Ireland has a long-held stigma against breastfeeding, which often involves shaming the mother. However, this amendment has major implications for the inclusion not only of a mother's human rights, but also those of the child. Breastfeeding protects babies against certain infections and other conditions in early childhood. There is evidence that shows that the longer a mother breastfeeds, the greater the protection for the mother, the baby and society. Therefore, this extension is welcome and will potentially have additional positive impacts on our healthcare system.

While I agree with this change, it exempts employers from providing facilities in the workplace to facilitate breastfeeding if the provision of such facilities would give rise to considerable costs. This seems almost backward but I acknowledge that there is a clause whereby, when facilities are not made available, employees' working hours must be reduced without loss of pay to facilitate breastfeeding. This will certainly enhance the work-life balance of the mother.

In line with Government policy that this leave entitlement apply to all pregnant employees, section 15 amends the Maternity Protection Act to provide for transgender males who have obtained gender recognition certificates as males and who subsequently give birth to have an entitlement to maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks. I agree with the key principle underlying the legislation, in that a person must not be disadvantaged due to non-identification to their assigned-at-birth or biological gender. It is clear to see that social norms and norms around gender conformity are shifting towards the acceptance of a non-binary view of gender identity. This amendment is a positive move forward and I hope it will enhance the work-life balance of transgender employees.

Section 16 rectifies a number of anomalies in the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 stemming from amendments made to it by the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021. This section provides for situations in which adopters are male as well as female, which is only right and just. I support this inclusive step towards enhancing the work-life balance of male and female adoptive parents.

Additional amendments incorporate provisions for the introduction of domestic violence leave. The Government must put supports in place for employers to assist them in developing domestic violence workplace policies in order to complement the leave and better support employees experiencing domestic violence. The level of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland is disturbingly high. There have been a number of widely publicised violent attacks on women. Since 2020, the level of domestic violence has increased, with Covid-19 impacting women's safety further. Numerous terrified women have come to my clinic and, with the assistance of Women's Aid in Dundalk, we were thankfully able to help them. However, employers need to be able to do more. Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree with this amendment.

Overall, the Government has made significant strides in enhancing the inclusion of all in Ireland. In the budget, we have delivered significant funding to the improvement of women's healthcare. Today, with the Bill's amendments, Members hope to make an improvement to the work-life balance of parents and carers. We must ensure that parents and carers have the capacity and supports to live whole, fulfilling and safe lives. This must incorporate work, recreation, family and recuperation and I hope that the amendments announced within the Bill will make a significant impact for the better.

See this speech in context