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

I understand what the Senators are trying to do here but I genuinely do not believe it is needed because of the other provisions of the Bill. The Senators are trying to amend the age limits for a child with a disability or long-term illness for which a request for a flexible working arrangement can be made. The age limits for relevant parents to request flexible working arrangements for care purposes are aligned with the age limits for parental leave so the leave can be taken before the child's 12th birthday or 16th birthday if the child has a disability or long-term illness.The leave can be taken before the child's 12th birthday, or 16th birthday if the child has a disability or long-term illness, or the arrangement can be in place up until the child's 12th or 16th birthday. Obviously, that goes beyond what the directive actually said. The directive put a minimum of eight so we are already significantly beyond that. The Bill says that a relevant parent can also qualify for a right to request flexible working arrangements where he or she is providing personal care and support to somebody and that can include a child. There is no age limit there, so that could include an adult child if the needs of the adult child were such that he or she required the parent to be in a position to provide care and support under this directive. The entitlements provided for under the Bill would apply to a child of any age where there is a need. In that context, the changes that Senator Black is proposing are not necessary, when we already have that provision in there.