Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, which transposes elements of the EU work-life balance directive and provides new rights to parents and carers in order to help support a better work-life balance. I pay tribute to the Minister regarding his role and for leading so strongly in respect of this matter. He has had two momentous years, plus a couple of months, in the House. He is responsible for much landmark legislation and, as a member of the Government, I am proud to stand behind him in the context of this ground-breaking legislation. It certainly reflects us in a positive light across the globe. I commend him and his officials on their work in respect of this important legislation.

The Government has always prioritised the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, and thanks to this ground-breaking legislation, Ireland would become one of the first countries in Europe to introduce a right to paid leave for victims of domestic violence. I welcome the Minister's intention to introduce legislative provisions that will provide for a form of domestic violence leave by way of amendment on Committee Stage, which is hugely welcome. It provides answers to many issues we have. There is an awful lot of fear and intimidation in too many family homes up and down and across the length and breadth of the country. It is time we take landmark decisions like this and reach out to people who are living in fear, people who are browbeaten and bet down. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. This is the first of a number of major steps we need to take to move us in the right direction.

I am conscious of the risk of poverty to those fleeing domestic violence. The programme for Government rightly contains a commitment to investigate the provision of paid leave and social protection for victims of domestic violence, which is welcome. For too long the issue of domestic violence has been brushed under the carpet and hidden by many family members. It is right that we challenge this issue, bring it to the fore and seek to address what has been a scourge on our communities and society. It has shattered the lives of many people and left lasting legacies in many family homes.

The Department has conducted research on domestic violence leave, including at international level, identifying best practice and developing a suitable model to roll out in Ireland. I commend his officials on this important work. The measures in this regard are most welcome. The Department has also engaged in a targeted consultation process with relevant stakeholders and social partners to examine how a leave scheme should operate to address the needs of victims most effectively. This has included consultation with the monitoring committee of the second national strategy on domestic sexual and gender-based violence, employer groups and trade unions. Stakeholders of the national equality strategy committees have also been consulted with. I am conscious there may have been negative publicity in recent weeks in respect of employers and employer groups on whether they would embrace this legislation. I have been contacted by many employers who are supportive of any victims and staff members who comes to them. Hand on heart, I know many employers in my constituency who have gone the extra mile and, even without the legislation, have taken the necessary steps to protect their staff. They value them as staff members but also as members of their community. They know the scourge and trauma that has been wreaked on so many families because of domestic violence. That is a message a number of employers, be they small employers or family businesses, have asked me to articulate on the floor of the House, which I am happy to do.

The Minister also intends to introduce amendments to the Bill on Committee Stage that would include legislative provision for a form of domestic violence leave. They will be hugely welcomed and it will be a landmark day when we see that happen. Work has begun on securing a partner to develop the necessary supports for employers in developing their workplace domestic-violence policies, with a view to rolling these out in 2023. From my engagement with employers, both small and large, I know this is very welcome. It is time we take domestic violence, its implications and the problems and trauma it wreaks across this country out of the dark corners, and that we address them in public, in this House and in the Seanad. It is also important that it should be part of any workplace manual. People need to know that domestic violence is not acceptable nor is it acceptable that it is not discussed in the workplace. It should be front and centre of any legal document, any contract staff have with their employer. People's rights as employees, in the unfortunate event that they become victims of domestic violence, need to be protected.

As already stated, I am a great advocate of the Minister's work and of his Department. I am impressed by the volume of work he gets through in his office. This is important legislation for the Government. We are particularly proud of it because it shows Ireland in a positive light. It shows us as a progressive society that can lead from the front and show other European countries how they should deal with what has been a scourge on society for countless decades and centuries. I commend the Minister on his work. I guarantee him my fulsome support and I look forward to the culmination of this legislation.

See this speech in context