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

I thank the Senator. I can assure him there is no less passion on this side of the House in terms of the delivery of this Bill. I want to make it very clear on my behalf that in the programme for Government there was a commitment to look at the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence leave. We have taken that commitment and advanced it to a stage whereby we are going to implement this paid leave, recognising the risk of poverty those fleeing situations of domestic violence face.

The Senator has put out the suggestion that the Bill requires a reduction in pay. It does not. Rather, it sets out a criteria in terms of the rate of pay. Senators correctly raised points about the criteria that were being used and we are amending those criteria today in order to make sure that information from those who have the best knowledge of the impact of domestic, gender and sexual-based violence, and the specific impact it can have on people in individual circumstances, like those who have spoken to Senators about this issue, is directly fed into the Minister in terms of the decision making process.