Sir, - Employers and employees have a responsibility to the businesses they work for and also to their children and families. But until recent years the two roles have been kept very firmly apart.
To help integrate our working lives with our family lives many new pieces of legislation have been introduced in recent years, such as the Maternity Protection Act 1994 and the Health and Safety Leave Regulations, which give protection to women who are pregnant, who have recently given birth, and/or who are breast-feeding. We also have the Department of Health's policy document "A National Breast-feeding Policy for Ireland", which recommends the provision of lactation breaks in the workplace for breast-feeding women who return to work.
Currently, we have the Expert Working Group on Childcare examining the issue of childcare. I pointed out in a submission to this group that the provision of facilities for lactation breaks in the workplace and in creche facilities is also an issue that needs to be included in any framework being developed in relation to the childcare issue.
Now we have the Parental Leave Bill which was introduced into legislation on December 3rd, 1998. It is being welcomed by parents and the trade union bodies, in particular ICTU, but on the other hand it is being given a negative response from Brendan Butler of IBEC. He fears abuse of the legislation plus the cost to business of introducing the force majeure leave. This is an astonishing response from IBEC's director of social policy, considering that employers also have rights included in the Bill.
Can he not see beyond the pounds, shillings and pence of the issue? This new legislation gives flexibility to our working lives and family lives in the same way as annual holiday leave. Today, we take paid annual holiday leave as the norm and businesses have survived in spite of this. Likewise, the Parental Leave Bill will also become the norm for working parents. - Yours, etc., Eileen O' Sullivan,
IBCLS, Certified Lactation Consultant, Forest Hills, Rathcoole, Co Dublin.