Kathleen Funchion raises carers exclusion in work-life balance bill
Kathleen Funchion raised concerns about the work-life balance and miscellaneous provisions bill, arguing it excludes certain carers from unpaid carers leave and flexible working entitlements. She urged the minister to consider amendments at report stage or to address the issue in the Seanad if not resolved.
Issue raised
She relayed concerns from Family Carers Ireland, who welcome the bill but are worried about the bill's specifications on who may be the subject of unpaid carers leave days or flexible working requests.
Who is covered in the bill
She outlined the categories listed in the bill - parent or adoptive parent, spouse or civil partner, a person for whom the employee is in loco parentis, cohabitant, parent or grandparent, brother or sister, and a person living in the same household who is not otherwise specified - and said the drafting effectively limits applications to those groups.
Who is excluded
Family Carers Ireland's concern is that the definition excludes applications in respect of care provided to non-relatives who do not live in the same household and other relatives who do not live in the same household, such as neighbours, friends or extended family members.
Comparison with existing provisions
She noted that Family Carers Ireland believes this approach sits at odds with carers allowance and carers benefit legislation and the Carers Leave Act 2001, which allow people to take carers leave or receive care-related payments for neighbours, friends and relatives including aunts, uncles and cousins.
Requested next steps
She asked the minister to examine the concern and, if it is not addressed in the amendments planned for the evening's report stage, to consider remedying it in the Seanad or before the bill fully passes. She also referenced that the matter had been raised at committee stage and that many of the evening's amendments are technical.
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Thanks very much. Minister, there is an issue that I wanted to raise that Family Cares Ireland brought to my attention last week, and it's possible that it is going to be addressed in the amendments later on this evening at report stage, but in case it isn't, I just wanted to put this on the record and see if it's not going to be addressed this evening, is it possible to have it addressed maybe through the Seanad at the next stage. So, what they are actually saying, I'm just going to read out what they've asked, is that they, first of all, they want to say that they welcome the work-life balance and miscellaneous provisions bill, which includes a number of important provisions for family carers, however, they're concerned with a particular aspect of the bill, which they have raised before, and they hoped would be rectified at this point, that's why I think they're hopeful that it might actually be addressed in the amendments this evening. So, their concern relates to the specifications set out in the bill regarding people for whom unpaid carers leave days or flexible working can be applied for, and they go on to list out the various categories, a person to whom the employee is, the parent or adoptive parent, the spouse or civil partner of the employee, a person to whom the employee is in loco parentis, the cohabitant of the employee, a parent or grandparent of the employee, a brother or sister of the employee, and a person other than one specified in any of the paragraphs A to F who live in the same household as the employee. So, basically, what their concern is, the definition excludes applications in respect of care provided to non-relatives who don't live in the same household or other relatives who don't live in the same household. So, they feel it's at odds with carers allowance and carers benefit legislation and the Carers Leave Act 2001, which allows a person to take carers leave and receive a care-related payment for a neighbour or friend and relative, including aunts, uncles and cousins. So, they're arguing that it's unusual that this legislation, and they're wondering, is it just sort of an oversight or a technical situation, but that they feel anyway that they've been excluded. So, I'm conscious of the time, but I wanted to raise that matter with you, and hopefully that you can look at that. Now, as I said, there's a number of amendments this evening from yourself, and I know a lot of them are technical, so I might cover this because some of this came up at committee stage, but if not, is there any way of looking at it before the bill actually fully passes? Thanks Sascam Carla. Very welcome. Thank you.
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