With respect, I am getting texts from a woman who has been waiting for over a month for the consultant to sign that form so that she can then get to a place where she will get some small intervention. The system just is not working and it is not all right. If one is in the public system, one really is at the mercy of the State.

I absolutely support Senator Fitzpatrick’s point. I also support Senator Ardagh's comments highlighting the work of Drimnagh For All and Ballyfermot For All, of which we are both part, and the extraordinary coming together of the community to celebrate the diversity and inclusion and the spirit of welcome in the community. That is right and fantastic. Speaking about the likes of Drimnagh, of all the community organisations and representatives within that community, Dynamic Drimnagh is coming together. It has the mo…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

I commend the work the Minister has done in the Department of Justice and the work done by the Minister, Deputy McEntee. It seems no time since this was announced, in Government terms at least, and now here we are. We are commencing with the Bill and I really welcome that. There is no doubt that the family court and family proceedings have their own unique flavour and unique province. One is dealing with relationships that are, in most cases, going to have to endure for the entirety of the individual's and the chil…

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Just before the Senator begins and before they leave, I welcome the pupils from St. Farnan's Post Primary School, Prosperous, County Kildare, and I thank them for coming to the Seanad. I will give latitude on the time.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank Senator Keogan for taking the Chair and allowing me to contribute. The Minister of State's personal response on this issue and her work in this area have been extraordinary. I am very grateful to her and am a great admirer of her commitment and the compassion she shows in every interview to which I have listened, as well as in how she responded in the Dáil. An important point to pull out of her speech is that the teams have triaged 21,000 referrals and 225,000 appointments have been delivered. Every one of …

Before we go to Senator Conway, I welcome the group in the Gallery from St. Christopher's Services, including both users and staff members, who are visiting with Deputy Flaherty. They are all very welcome and I thank them for joining us.

I am hesitant about what I am going to say. I have checked and double-checked my thinking on it to make sure I am accurate. While I have great sympathy for the points made by Senators Warfield and Higgins, I believe the amendment is about substituting the 26 weeks for one week in the context of ceasing employment. I note the Minister nodding, so it must be right. If I end my employment with an employer and return to work with that employer within 26 weeks, the period before my ending the employment is added on when…

I said I have sympathy for it.

The provision of section 6 that provides for someone who is residing in the same household as the employee in question and who requires serious medical care or support is broad enough to encompass anything suggested in this amendment if this situation arose. If someone is coming out of hospital, to use the Senator's example, the term "resides" is loose enough to encompass these categories where a need arises. I believe an employer would be open to taking that into account. Section 6 is broad enough to include every…

We are in danger of being overly compassionate here. We need to provide certainty for employers. If we are too broad in the provisions, we will end up with a situation whereby any person could, at any time, seek to avail a protected category of leave - that is the entitlement we are providing for here - in respect of any other person. That would leave employers in a precarious situation and unable to plan because such a situation could arise at any point. We need to be careful not to broaden it out too far. As rega…

This could be achieved by clarifying that it is sufficient for a medical practitioner or a person of medical standing related to the individual for whom the care is required to state, without disclosing any private information in respect of the individual, that a level of care consistent with the Bill is required. Can that be construed? A medical certificate has a specific meaning in all of our heads. We expect it to have a particular content of information. Since the introduction of the GDPR, employers are not req…

This could be done by a pro forma under a statutory instrument, similar to the likes of the temporary agency worker or the organisation and working time regulations. There are set forms that would hit the standard that is required. There is no reason why that could not be done by a statutory instrument afterward.

I will support the Minister’s amendment. However, I would like to raise some of the concerns that have been raised by Women’s Aid in respect of the non-paid element. If you require domestic violence leave, you are at a particularly vulnerable and precarious time of your life. To oblige a situation whereby an individual is minus their income, as well as everything else, brings on a financial hardship that is unwarranted. I am being looked at funnily. Should I stop? Have I moved on?

Am I on amendment No. 8? Am I too soon? I apologise. I will rise again.

I am in agreement with much of what Senator Higgins is saying about the peculiarity of the criteria when making regulations. In a way, providing domestic violence leave is another step forward for us as a nation in saying this is not tolerable. Creating a set of circumstances whereby we will provide it or limit it depending on the economy, does not send out the right message. That is not in any way in keeping with what our position and intention as legislators would be. There are many unnecessary and peculiar thing…

Tusla has a short guide for parents arriving into Ireland. It answers the question, "Can I leave a baby home alone?" with, "No, not even for a few minutes." It states that a young child should never be left at home alone, not even for a short time. On the question of leaving an older child at home alone, the guide states that it is recommended that children under the age of 14 should not be left home alone for more than a very short time and that a child over 16 can be left home alone. We are at a variance here, co…