Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their contributions and for the positive way in which they have responded to this legislation. I agree that it is very positive. It is a clear step forward in a direction towards supporting all families, recognising our understanding of the role, and that the joy rather than the burden of caring for children should be shared between parents where there are parents, and that parents should be facilitated in as much as possible in doing this. It is something we should seek to achieve.

I want to address a couple of the issues Senators raised. Senators Seery Kearney and Currie raised the issue of lone parents. Senator Currie made a detailed submission to the pre-legislative process and I thank her for it. I have listened carefully to the submissions and I want to make clear that at the heart of the EU work-life balance directive is the idea of non-transferability. What we are doing with this Bill is transposing the directive. As Senators know, when we transpose EU law we are bound to work within the confines of that law. The idea of non-transferability is fundamental to what the work-life balance directive is about, as is the idea that there must be reserved time for each parent. The reason behind this is that if it is given to both but with transferability we can all guess what will happen quite quickly. Unfortunately, it seems to follow that in the vast majority of cases, it ends up being transferred to the mother. This is what we want to mitigate. This is central to the directive. We are transposing the directive with this legislation so we were bound by the non-transferable achieve element.

I am very aware of the additional challenges faced by one-parent families. I had a very good meeting with the One Family organisation. We discussed this issue and certain parts of the national childcare scheme, which falls directly within the ambit of the Department, with regard to how they disadvantages certain one-parent families. It is something I am committed to working on. It also highlighted to me that the way certain elements of labour market activation are designed is almost punitive towards one-parent families.That is something we as a Government and an Oireachtas should consider addressing. We know one-parent families are at greater risk of poverty. We need to continue to address that through our taxation and welfare systems and the range of services we provide. I am very happy that within the programme for Government there is a commitment to work on the Report on the Position of Lone Parents in Ireland, which was produced by an Oireachtas committee. One Family wanted to see that commitment in the programme for Government and it was included. To the extent that the matter falls within my Department, I will work with Senators across the House to support one-parent families as we go forward. I am conscious that more needs to be done in that area.

As regards Tusla, which was raised by Senator Dolan, currently there are nine members on the board, seven ordinary members, the chair and deputy chair. The ratio of male to female is 5:4 and it has a male chair and female vice chair. As Members will probably know, the chair is Pat Rabbitte, a former colleague of Senator Bacik. The chief executive officer is Bernard Gloster, who has appeared before the joint committee on children.

Senator Warfield raised concerns about issues that have arisen with Tusla in the past. Tusla is an organisation in transition. It has gone through some very difficult times but I am very confident in its transition. Pat Rabbitte and Bernard Gloster provide strong leadership, with Mr. Gloster focused on the day-to-day running of the organisation and Mr. Rabbitte focused on the higher level of governance. Governance is absolutely key to this. Tusla is dealing with children in the most vulnerable of circumstances, as well as adults in various circumstances, including domestic and sexual and gender-based violence. That is why governance of the organisation is so important. It is also important that we provide additional members of the board to support that governance. It is a huge burden and the board must deal with highly complex issues. All of us have probably served on one or two boards in our time, with some of us having probably served on many boards. Given the complexity and seriousness of the issues the board has to deal with, Mr. Rabbitte requested that we provide additional support and I am happy to do that.

The reform agenda in Tusla is a matter on which I have felt strongly since my appointment as Minister in this Department. We provided an additional allocation of €61 million to Tusla this year, the largest increase in funding the organisation has ever received. Over the previous three budgets, it had recorded a deficit every year and had been underfunded. We have addressed that, recognising the importance of Tusla’s role in helping vulnerable children, supporting families and supporting those who have been victims of the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, particularly during the Covid crisis. We have been able to put those additional supports in place. Tusla funds the sector dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence sector, which will spend the highest amount ever next year. Between 2020 and 2021, an additional €4.7 million will be spent on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services, about which there much concern among Senators.

Senator O’Reilly referred to domestic violence leave. We are not ready for the legislative stage of that. We have engaged in consultations with the social partners, employer groups and trade unions in recent weeks. We met representatives of ICTU and meetings are also taking place with groups working in the area of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to understand what domestic violence leave and pay benefit legislation will look like and how to design it. Sinn Féin has a Private Members' Bill on that point. We are working hard to develop proposals in this important area and we will publish them later this year. We recognise that poverty is often a barrier to people leaving situations where they are at risk. Even the loss of one week's or two weeks' wages can be a determining factor. If we can take that burden away from victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, that will be a small step.

I note the comments of Senators Warfield and Seery Kearney about the hurt caused by the inequality that existed in the law by which male married same-sex couples were excluded from adopted leave. I do not think that was done deliberately.It does not take away from the exclusionary nature of our law. As Senator Warfield said, we all celebrated. We all, no doubt, have pictures of ourselves on the day the referendum was carried, or campaigning on it. However, this discrimination was allowed persist, and it is important we are addressing it today. It was very valid of Senator Seery Kearney to recognise the hurt created for some by that inequality persisting.

Regarding the amendment to the personal injuries legislation, Senator Bacik has asked for clarification. We will provide that on Committee Stage. I take the points she made. There are occasions when something needs to be done at speed, but I take her point. I also take Senator Warfield's point about not having a great deal of time to go through this legislation. It did go through detailed pre-legislative scrutiny but there is obviously a difference between heads and the Bill. We are very conscious we want this passed by the Easter recess. Everyone is in agreement on that.

I am very conscious that people are waiting for this. I have number of friends who are texting me on a weekly basis to ensure, as their pregnancy continues, it will be available for them. We are very conscious that families and parents are waiting for this and they need to have certainty in being able to plan their leave schedule. I am delighted that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys, was able to confirm that leave and benefits will be payable immediately. Once this legislation is passed, we will be able to provide for both leave and benefit.

There was discussion about my tie and it rolled on a bit. Everyone seemed to put a political statement around ties. To disappoint everyone, it is a product of a laundry crisis in the O'Gorman-Healy household caused by my failure to engage in necessary ironing last weekend. There is no greater reason than that. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and look forward to continuing to work with the Seanad as we pass this legislation.