Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to be back in the House for a final debate on this important legislation, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022. The Bill will improve workers' rights in five key ways. It introduces the right to request flexible working for carers and parents, so that mothers, fathers and carers can better balance their family life, work and caring responsibilities. It introduces the right to request remote working for all workers, recognising the benefits of remote working including less commuting and a better quality of life. It introduces five days of caring leave for parents and carers who need to support a person or child with serious medical care and five days of paid leave for victims of domestic violence, making Ireland one of the first countries in Europe to introduce this right. Finally, it extends breastfeeding breaks from six months to two years after the birth of a child, providing additional support to new mothers returning to work after maternity leave. It enacts pieces of the EU work-life balance directive and brings Ireland close to the full transposition of that directive, as well as introducing key policy proposals of this Government that were agreed in the programme for Government negotiations.

Deputies and Senators were supportive of elements of this legislation. Most of the changes we are bringing forward today are of a technical nature, but one or two are also substantive and I look forward to hearing Deputies' views on those. Amendment No. 1 and the other amendments in the first grouping are amendments to correct drafting errors in the Bill or ensure that the provisions of the Bill are technically correct. They correct spelling errors where they occur, revise punctuation and insert accurate references. I recommend to the committee that these amendments be accepted.

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