David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is in favour of extended parental leave. We are talking about the first year of a child's life. We are talking about going way beyond this and bringing in paid leave. As I said, there are implications for the EU work-life balance directive and there are other nuances. These must be introduced properly after consultation where people, particularly small businesses, can be prepared for them and have an input. There could be unforeseen consequences of which nobody has thought, which is why consultation is so important and why I am such a fan of listening to what people have to say on these kinds of matters.

In respect of section 4(3) regarding the three months after enactment, I note what Deputy Shortall said about it going to the Seanad and that Report Stage might be a number of weeks away and so forth. Even at that, it may very well be okay but I will be bringing forward amendments to be sure in case something unforeseen arises so we are not locked in to three months after enactment. That is all but we are very anxious to support parents in a very positive way by introducing paid parental leave. Last year, we started off with two weeks paternity leave. The uptake of that has been very gratifying. A total of 67% of young fathers have taken that. We want to encourage and increase that even more so we are taking the steps in the direction; the issue of paid leave is what will really encourage people because many families will not be able to afford to take unpaid leave but they can take paid leave. That is where the Government is trying to go. I ask members to keep that in mind as well.