Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

My colleague, Senator Regan, has outlined the general welcome our party gives to this Bill and to the wide variety of proposals and issues dealt with within. I wish to focus on three elements of the Bill, namely, Parts 4, 9 and 11, which deal with leases for commercial property, the operation of the current film censorship office, and the reference to parental leave and the ability to share it across the same employer.

I have followed the passage of this legislation through the Oireachtas with some interest. The non-existence of this legislation has caused severe hardship to a constituent of mine in respect of her ability to maintain a commercial lease and to operate her business. This matter received a fair degree of coverage in the media and the Minister of State carefully responded to it during an earlier discussion on the Bill. I welcome that this legislation is being discussed in the Seanad. The non-operation of this legislation has meant a small business operating in a commercially leased property is gradually finding the amount of space open to it being reduced. The landlords are legitimately concerned their responsibilities and the amount of control they will have over the lease will be steadily eroded over time. As a result of this fear, they have reduced the support and space available to this tenant.

The economic environment in which we operate means we are more focused on the need to support small businesses which, given their nature, are more reliant than larger businesses on commercial leases. This legislation is welcome. Having discussed this legislation with the tenant concerned, I believe there are lessons worth stressing in this arena. The first relates to how we reached a point whereby a gap in legislation resulted in the viability of a business, especially a small business, being threatened and compromised.

The Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, exists to deal with matters in respect of the domestic rental sector. This organisation is quite vocal and adept at identifying gaps that exist in legislation in respect of the domestic rental market. It is important we learn from what has happened. I hope in future that body or another will be able to identify problems in this area before they develop. We must ensure no business is compromised in this way.

It is important we review the conditions upon which commercial leases are granted to ensure, as the needs of small businesses change and develop, the environment in which they operate is flexible. We must ensure legislation keeps apace with changes in the needs of these businesses. I hope we can deal quickly with this legislation and have it enacted to ensure the commercial sector in general and the tenant of whom I spoke earlier are not compromised further in any way.

I welcome many of the provisions contained in Part 9 which deals with the Censorship of Films Act and the changes made in respect of the Irish Film Censor's office. I welcome the increase in fines to be levied on those found to be in breach of the current legislation in terms of renting out videos and DVDs to minors. I welcome also the recognition that there exists some non-mainstream enterprises which, because of current charges, are unable to get their films out to charities and so on which may be interested in viewing or showing them. This is particularly welcome given the Irish film industry is leading the way in some of these films. It is a good change.

This legislation contains a reference to the threshold on the basis of which a decision will be made if the content of a film is likely to cause harm to children. I would like us to debate that issue further in the future. The films that are now part of mainstream entertainment have images and content which, if reflected on, would raise questions about whether children should be exposed regularly to them.

I raised a point previously, on which I have contacted the Irish Film Censor's Office, concerning the displaying of posters containing images advertising films, which when contained in a film result in it having a rating which prevents it from being viewed by minors. I referred to a film with an 18 rating. It was a horror film that contained scenes of explicit torture. The poster advertising that film contained an image of a man being tortured. That poster was displayed outside a cinema in O'Connell Street and outside other cinemas throughout the country. Following my raising this point with the film censor, he raised it with the distributor of the film.

When I raised the issue of this film poster, I wondered if we had become desensitised to the images we allow to be viewed by all members of the public, which lowers the threshold of images we perceive to constitute explicit violence. I would like to debate this point in future and receive a more measured response to it. We properly spend considerable time discussing the prevalence of violence in our community. The advertising of such images in a mainstream manner should give us pause for thought but it should also give us cause for action. It is an issue I would like to debate in future.

Some colleagues referred to the issue of parental leave, the provision of which is a small but welcome measure in the legislation. As a new father who is desperate to take advantage of the opportunity to spend all the time I can with my new born children, I am strongly of the view that my role as a father is given little recognition in the existing legislation. We need to address that to ensure fathers are given the opportunity to play a more responsible role in the household.

Speaking as a previous employer, it is important to ensure employers are made aware of the existence of this clause. Employers, in general, are of the view that they are expected to be as flexible as possible in their response to mothers seeking time off for parental leave, but they do not have the same attitude to such requests from fathers. This change in the legislation is welcome, therefore, although it is a small step. It is important employers are made aware of this provision to ensure when fathers take advantage of this provision, which I hope they will, they are not to be greeted with baffled looks or looks of indifference from employers. I would like the Government and the relevant statutory body to take this issue seriously and to act upon it in future.