David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I heard what the Fianna Fáil Senator said with regard to the delay and I am sorry for the delay in presenting this Bill. We wanted to get it right. An important concern is the burden it places or may place on employers. A huge amount of work was done to get that right so it would not be challenged later on. I cannot emphasise enough the amount of work my officials put into this, along with the Office of the Attorney General and the Parliamentary Counsel. A huge amount of effort went into consulting with others to get the main thrust of this over the line, as we have it.A number of mitigating factors, such as the six-week notice, were included on foot of that. In due course, we were satisfied that the costs imposed on employers were not disproportionate, having regard to the benefits of this scheme for parents, children and society. There is a balance there which we have to get right.

This Bill includes same-sex couples and its provisions will be available to same-sex couples. The lacuna I mentioned earlier refers specifically to adoptive leave and benefit which will be addressed in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. I was anxious to include it in this Bill but we ran out of time. There were so many complications and details we had to get right, otherwise the whole Bill might not have gone through. I regret the delay in addressing that lacuna. It is at the top of our list and we will get it done when the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill comes through. We had hoped to include it here but it was not possible to do so.

I am also conscious that one of the few groups in society without access to any form of official leave are Members of the Oireachtas. This is a matter which I have addressed previously. It is something about which we need to talk. One possible option would be to have some form of substitution for Members for a period. I have spoken to colleagues here, both mothers and fathers, who have been in this position. The work and demands never stop for them and it is a huge challenge. If we want to attract more people into politics, young people in particular, we need to look at this. We have to talk about it, debate it and see if we can change our way of doing business so that Members could have substitutes during their leave. Substitution is one suggestion, but there may be others. It is unfair that Members of the Houses cannot spend time with their new babies like everyone else in society now can. We may need to address this at a future date. We will have to get our heads around it and see what we can do to improve that situation for people here.