Amendment No. 30 replaces an incorrect word in the amendment of section 73 of the Act. The word "subsection" is being replaced by "subject", which will clarify the meaning of the relevant paragraph. This is a technical amendment that will improve the final text of the Bill. Seanad amendment No. 32: Section 65: In page 56, to delete line 17 and substitute the following: “(ii) in paragraph (a)— (I) by the substitution of “well founded, and, in the case of a complaint under subsection (2), notwithstanding section 12 o…

Amendment No. 36 modifies a particular cross-reference relating to EPA regulations. The modification will correct a cross-reference in section 79 of the 2015 Act, which is necessary because of the changes previously made to the Bill. This is a technical amendment that will improve the final text of the Bill.

Amendment No. 37 provides for a regulation-making power to allow for EPAs executed under the Power of Attorney Act 1996 to be registered under the 2015 Act. That will allow those persons who have already gone to the trouble of creating an EPA to register it with the DSS under the 2015 Act, which provides for more efficient procedures and more robust safeguards than the 1996 Act. Additionally, the director of the DSS will have the power to waive the fees associated with this registration so as to make the process as…

Many Deputies spoke to me in the process of this legislation. Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned in some of the earlier debates the very difficult cases in which people have been caught up, the lack of appropriate legislation that existed or, indeed, the wardship process, which is an incredibly blunt process. The whole thrust behind what we are trying to do is create a decision support service with a director and staff who are there to have an oversight role in terms of these relationships. Once these decision support…

Amendment No. 38 provides a regulation to make power for my colleague, the Minister for Health, to establish a register of advanced healthcare directives under the 2015 Act. This register will be maintained by the decision support service and will support the alignment of Part 8 of the Act with other parts governing decision support arrangements. The amending provisions will also specify what the content principles and policies of the regulations should be.

When this Government took office it was made clear that delivery on housing would be our number one priority. At a time of global upheaval, be that with Covid, the cost-of-living pressures, or the war in Ukraine, the Government has sought to deliver on that, led by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We did not, nor do we, underestimate the challenges involved, nor do we underestimate the awful impact the housing crisis has on so many of our citizens. This is …

I thank the Deputy and I know that he has been contact with my Department and directly with me about some local providers. We have over the last number of months started over 650 individual contracts with hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts. We have needed to upscale our ability to deal with that number of contracts. When the Deputy and others have asked, I have had additional resources transferred within my Department to specifically resource getting invoices out and paid. That has been done. We are working…

I move: That it be an instruction to the Committee to which the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 may be recommitted in respect of certain amendments that, pursuant to Standing Order 187, the Committee has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing provisions of the Bill in order to make amendments to the quorum arrangements for the Board of the Adoption Authority Ireland to facilitate Board meetings under the Adoption Act, and to extend the tracing power…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 8, after “purpose” to insert “and other purposes”. I am pleased to be here to speak on Report Stage of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022. It is really important legislation that will allow us to implement two final elements of the work-life balance directive from the European Union. It addresses leave for medical care purposes and the ability to seek flexible working arrangements for families and carers. We are also using this Bill to introduce the …

I touched base with officials about that. Regarding who is entitled to leave for medical care purposes, section 5 of the Bill inserts a new section 13A into the Parental Leave Act to provide for an entitlement to five days of medical care leave for parents and carers. An employee can take the leave to care for a person of whom the employee is the relevant parent, the spouse or civil partner of the employee, the cohabitant of the employee, a parent or grandparent of the employee, a brother or sister of the employee,…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 9, to delete “entitle” and substitute “provide for the entitlement of”.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 3, line 9, after “purposes” to insert “and domestic violence leave”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 3, line 10, after “purposes;” to insert “to provide for the entitlement of employees to request remote working arrangements;”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 3, lines 13 and 14, to delete all words from and including “and” in line 13 down to and including line 14 and substitute the following: “, the Adoption Act 2010, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022; and to provide for related matters.”. I note the motion was debated earlier on these amendments and they are being recommitted. On Committee Stage, I noted my intention to bring these amen…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 3, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: "PART 1 PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL Short title, collection citation and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022. (2) The Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2019 and Part 2 may be cited together as the Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2022. (3) This Act, other than Parts 3 and 4 and sections 22 and 23, shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Children, Equali…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 3, line 17, to delete “In this Act” and substitute “In this Part”.

I move amendment No. 8: In page 3, line 22, to delete “ “ ‘adopting parent’ ” and substitute the following: “ “ ‘Act of 2015’ means the Workplace Relations Act 2015; ‘adopting parent’ ”. These are technical amendments arising from the amendments being introduced. They rectify some drafting issues identified in the Bill, as amended on Committee Stage.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 4, lines 2 and 3, to delete “section 13C(1)(a)” and substitute “section 13C(1)(b)(i)”. The amendment amends section 6 to insert a new section 13C into the Parental Leave Act. Section 13C sets out the obligations on the employer when considering a request for flexible working. The new section 13C revises the wording of the existing section in the Bill and includes an additional requirement that any flexible working arrangement includes an expiration date. This is intended to provide a…

I move amendment No. 10: In page 4, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “ ‘code of practice’ means any code of practice for the time being standing approved in accordance with Part 4 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 ;”. These amendments introduce provisions for the development of statutory code of practice that will govern flexible and remote working requests. Employers will be required to have regard to the code when considering both flexible working and remote working req…

The code of practice will be developed by the WRC. It is probably the best place to synthesise the views of employers and employees. It has a central understanding of the needs and legalities around the rights of workers.