Business groups have raised concerns over the Government's plans to bring in paid leave for victims of domestic violence.
Five days of paid leave is due to be available for those suffering or at risk of abuse at home under the Work-Life Balance Bill.
However, IBEC says a new form of leave is not needed, as victims can already take compassionate leave.
The CEO of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association, Neil McDonnell, says data protection laws here would make it difficult for employers to ask staff for proof:
"When you hear some of this stuff on domestic violence, a lot of this has come from New Zealand for example and we already have provisions in place to deal with things like that. New Zealand doesn't have GDPR, so the sorts of circumstances in which an employer could even engage with an employee, asking why they needed to take domestic violence leave."
