Unions have welcomed reports that parent’s leave will eventually be extended to nine weeks for mothers and fathers, in line with Ireland’s commitments under an EU directive.
Each parent of a child born on or before 1st November 2019 is currently eligible to take two weeks’ parent’s leave in the child’s first year. It attracts a parent’s benefit of €245 a week for workers with sufficient PRSI contributions.
Unions are concerned at the low take-up of both paternity leave and parents leave due to low payment and most employers’ reluctance to top up the benefit.
Parent’s leave is different from parental leave, which is unpaid.
The amount of parent’s leave, which is also available to adoptive parents, is to increase to five weeks from next April, when the period in which the leave can be taken will also increase to two years.
Last week, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) noted that children’s minister Roderic O’Gorman had been reported as saying that the leave would later be extended to nine weeks. Its equality officer, David Joyce, noted that this was the minimum requirement of an EU directive, due to be fully transposed into Irish law by August 2022.
The amount of parent’s leave, which is also available to adoptive parents, is to increase to five weeks from next April, when the period in which the leave can be taken will also increase to two years.
But he outlined concerns at the low take-up of both paternity leave and parents’ leave, due to the relatively low payment of €245 a week and most employers’ reluctance to top up the benefit. Some 50% of fathers don’t take the two weeks’ paternity leave they are due.
A recent spending review by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) found that neither the public service nor most private sector employers topped up the payment. “With average weekly net earnings in the private sector over 2.5 times the payment, this is an issue that will have to dealt with,” said Joyce.
It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact the union HERE.