Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I am here in my capacity as justice spokesperson, but I am interested in the issue as a woman and as a person. I would like us to develop longer maternity leave but we also need to examine other European countries where there is paternity leave. This would mean the leave could be interchangeable between parents, which would be helpful to many Oireachtas and local authority members. In this case, if women members did not want to take the leave, perhaps fathers could do so and it could work both ways and in different ways for different families. The recent census figures indicated that an increasing number of men are staying at home to be the home-makers. That is the way in which society is moving and it is a fact we must recognise in legislation.

I agree that the Civil Service should show the way not just in legislation, but in terms of the facilities it provides. In many ways it has done so. The public service took the lead on job-sharing and so on but more can be done, particularly in Leinster House. It is not just woman unfriendly, but family unfriendly and father unfriendly in the way it is organised and we need to examine it.

I thank the Minister of State for the changes he made which followed on issues we raised in our amendments – for example, the allocation of six months as opposed to four months for breastfeeding breaks.