I move amendment No. 38: In page 23, line 29, after “years” to insert “or when the employment ceases”.

Amendment No. 38 seeks to include, as part of the proposed amendments to section 29 of the principal Act, a provision that where records of medical leave are kept, as well as the three-year limit for the retention of such records, they shall be destroyed when employment ceases, whichever occurs earlier. As such records are likely to contain sensitive information, it is important from a data protection viewpoint that sensitive information on former employees is not retained. Amendment No. 39 seeks to include, as par…

I move amendment No. 39: In page 23, line 31, after “years” to insert “or when the employment ceases”.

I move amendment No. 42: In page 28, to delete line 7.

Amendments Nos. 42 and 43 seek to address a similar issue to amendments Nos. 30 and 31. They require that where a termination of a remote working agreement occurs due to circumstances described in section 22(1)(a), that is, seasonal variation, the termination shall only be valid for the period in which such seasonal variations occur and, upon the conclusion of that period, the remote working agreement shall resume. These amendments are to ensure that seasonal variations in work or business do not prevent remote wor…

I move amendment No. 43: In page 28, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(2) An employer may also terminate an agreement under subsection (1) where the employer is satisfied that the flexible working arrangement would have, or is having, a substantial adverse effect on the operation of his or her business, profession or occupation, by reason of seasonal variations in the volume of the work concerned, however the termination shall only be valid for the period in which such seasonal variations occur an…

I move amendment No. 45: In page 34, line 31, after “her” to insert “or their”.

I welcome that section 34 seeks to be trans inclusive in respect of breast-feeding provisions. However, in the proposed amendment to the definition of an employee who is breast-feeding as outlined in section 2(1), I propose the word "their" is inserted after the pronoun "her" in order to ensure the definition as well as the intention of the section is trans inclusive. I would appreciate it if the Minister could accept this relatively simple amendment as it would ensure we are being consistent in our approach as reg…

I welcome the Minister. I am glad to be here to express my support for this important and timely legislation. I congratulate Senators Ardagh and Crowe on their hard work in respect of it. Deputy Conway-Walsh and others have tabled similar Bills in the Dáil. I hope this can be an area where a good idea is rewarded with cross-party support and swift passage through these Houses. Legislation like this is long overdue in the age of online job hunting. Finding employment online has its benefits. People can access a much…

Yesterday morning, the Israeli military murdered ten Palestinians, including two elderly men and a child, and injured more than 100 in a vicious raid on Nablus. Throughout the brutal attack, the Israeli military blocked Palestinian medical personnel from treating the wounded. The raid on Nablus is the second massacre by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank in 2023. The Israeli military killed ten Palestinians during a raid in Jenin in January. Both cities are under constant, systematic terror by the Israe…

I am calling for a debate. I want to quote the Tánaiste. He continued: Those responsible, those carrying out these actions, and those directing them will be held fully accountable, and there will be no hiding places. That is why we have provided additional funding to the International Criminal Court, to give it the capacity to follow up on these crimes. I am asking the Tánaiste why he will not condemn the Israeli apartheid regime for the massacre of civilians, in the same way he condemns Russia. Is it perhaps becau…

It is colonisation and it is horrific. I feel so emotional about this. It is horrific.

I welcome the Minister and congratulate the Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, and all its members on the publication of this very timely and insightful report. I also thank and congratulate the staff of the committee secretariat who work so hard to produce documents that are of such a high standard. Sometimes those staff do not get as much credit as they should. We all know the importance of the tourism and hospitality sector as these major industries employ a huge num…

I move amendment No.3: In page 12, line 29, after “legislation” to insert “or other relevant legislation”

My amendments in this grouping seek to address the issue, discussed on Committee Stage, of the framing of the accountability framework. Amendment No. 3 seeks to amend section 53B(2) by inserting after the obligation to act in accordance with obligations under financial services legislation that there would also be an obligation to act in accordance with other relevant legislation. Amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, seek to make similar changes in section 53E and amendment No. 7 seeks a similar change in section 53F…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 14, lines 39 and 40, to delete “financial services” and substitute “relevant obligations or”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 14, line 42, to delete “financial services” and substitute “relevant obligations or”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 15, line 2, to delete “financial services” and substitute “relevant obligations or”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 16, line 26, to delete “obligations under financial services” and substitute “relevant obligations or”.

I move amendment No. 8: In page 22, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “(2C) The Minister shall, within the 2 years following the commencement of this section, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas detailing— (a) the level of effective implementation of the designation of person who perform a controlled function, (b) the effectiveness of the identification and designation of persons who perform a controlled function, (c) the potential to expand the range of functions under this designatio…