Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and everybody involved in the passage of this Bill through the Seanad. I wish the well-being of children was as central to other legislation going through the Houses as it is to this Bill. It is important that any initiative to facilitate the ability of parents to spend time with the children be encouraged. The important word is "facilitate". We are not seeking to compel, cajole or blackmail financially parents or guardians into spending time with their children. The overriding factor which needs to run through public policy is that the best people to decide how to raise their children are parents. To the greatest extent possible, the State should stay out of the issue of how parents choose to raise their children, while always providing the best possible legal framework for them to make good decisions. I say that because I worry that there is increasing nanny State rhetoric coming into policies at Government level when it comes to issues related to children and the family. I have in mind comments made by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, since the last we discussed this legislation in this House.On that occasion she stated that the value of money associated with the scheme is not enough for men to take time off work. It does not seem to have stopped women from taking maternity leave since time immemorial. The Minister followed up stating that men seem to think that caring is a woman's thing and that taking time off real work is still a novelty for fathers. I do not like the kind of language that furthers a conflict between the genders. It has the effect of insulting parents and belittling decisions they make in respect of their families. Ironically, Fine Gael recently adopted a new party value at the Taoiseach's request which states, "Fine Gael believes that individuals and families know how best to organise their own lives and make decisions for themselves". Someone should have informed the Minister about that because the two comments are in conflict with each other.

It is a fact of life that the majority of most two-parent families decide that the mother takes on most of the child-rearing duties. This will always be the case. We should absolutely give fathers every possible opportunity to take more of a role but in no way should we stigmatise families who choose the outcome they prefer, for whatever reason, to suit their family circumstances. For long enough we listened to the need to get the church out of bedrooms and out of family decision-making but I think we now need to be aware of the State getting too involved in the minutiae of people's lives. We need to guard against this. I see signs of it which trouble me. It does not take away from the support that this legislation richly deserves and the credit that all those involved with the Bill deserve.