Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I am a little at odds with this amendment and would be very concerned if it was accepted. It would be a recipe for industrial chaos in some locations. One might as well not have a Bill at all and stipulate that people are entitled to parental leave such that there would be a free-for-all without any prescribed conditions. One needs to be prescriptive in this area. The Minister is being prescriptive, just as prescriptions are made regarding annual holidays and bank holidays. It would be ludicrous and an act of madness to allow people to negotiate their holidays on an annual basis and to allow the entitlements in this regard to vary from company to company. It would certainly not help to sustain our economic well-being.

People are sometimes inclined to believe that because our economy has grown over a number of years and is now doing well, we can throw whatever we like at it and hope the ship stays afloat. This is not the way to go. I agree fully with the prescriptions in the Bill, which is a step in the right direction. I agree with the sentiments expressed to the effect that it should be reviewed after some time to determine how it is working in practice and, if necessary, modified in light of the experience of beneficiaries of parental leave and the imposition it represents on employment. Ultimately, if one does not have employment, one is certainly not giving a service or serving well the parental situation. This was largely the case under the laissez-faire policies of the Government in the 1980s, whereby people had to leave Ireland and find employment abroad. This had an impact on our society for well over a decade. Now that this problem has been corrected, it is important that we maintain an even keel.