Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. I have asked the Minister, probably six times at this stage, if he can please explain how this is going to operate in practice in the civil and public service. As he is well aware, workers in the higher education sector will be entitled to ten days of leave.

Ten days is the international norm. It is what has been negotiated by trade unions. Ten days is what Women's Aid says is necessary but it is also what is now available in the higher education sector. It is not that long since the unions were in the Labour Court, where they were told in no uncertain terms that there had to be standardisation in leave arrangements. This goes against that. I am struggling to understand why the entitlement has been halved. It was given by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris but it has now been halved as part of this Bill. I know the difference between a statutory entitlement and a non-statutory one so I ask the Minister not to explain that to me. Ten days is what Women's Aid and all the advocacy groups have asked for. Ten days is what is accepted as the norm.

See this speech in context