Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I join with others in highlighting work life balance day. I hope it is not simply an opportunity to pay lip service to this worthwhile initiative but I believe it is. After ten years in office, the Government has not advanced the position of many parents who struggle with family and work. As Senator O'Meara said, parental leave is unpaid and there is no paternity leave. The child care situation is as bad as it was five years ago. It is beyond the reach of many families to avail of child care. Parents are unable to access before and after school care. As a result of long commuting times, many parents are forced to give up work. I would like to see more action on the part of Government and employers and for them to take on board this very good initiative.

Much work needs to be done before we can start to talk about forcing women to return to work, which the Minister for Social and Family Affairs has done, particularly as the services and facilities are not in place. I am speaking about the lone parents report which is an initiative to force women back to work when the facilities in their local areas are not in place whether it be child care, flexible working times and commuting times. We need to address many problems before we can begin to force people back into work. We also need to do a lot more to facilitate those at work and give them a real work life balance.