Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputies Lisa Chambers and O’Loughlin on bringing forward this Bill and thank them and Deputies O’Reilly, Lahart, Thomas Byrne and Troy for their contributions.

All of us here share the same objective, namely, to provide parents with choice and flexibility and to afford them the opportunity to spend more time with their children. We all recognise the importance of helping parents strike a balance between family and working life, and we must do everything we can to achieve this goal. A lot of work remains to be done by the Government to support families through the introduction of paid parental leave. There are ongoing negotiations at EU level on the work life balance directive and several Private Members’ Bills have been generated by Members of this House. That is a positive contribution.

I am glad we had an opportunity to discuss these in detail in this debate. Such a discussion helps to provide different insights, to inform us all of the different needs of families and of possible approaches that might be taken, and it all helps to improve the various initiatives in development.

As outlined, the Government is committed to helping families. In 2013, we increased parental leave from 14 to 18 weeks. In 2016, the Government introduced paternity leave legislation to provide for two weeks’ paid paternity leave for fathers on the birth of their babies and, as noted, the Government is delighted to see the positive response and increasing uptake of this leave by fathers.

Around this time last year we provided for the extension of maternity leave and maternity benefit in cases of premature births, which is in addition to the existing entitlement to 26 weeks’ paid maternity leave. Only in the past month, the Government announced the introduction of a new paid parental leave scheme next year to deliver on the commitments in the programme for Government.

These are all positive developments and the Deputies’ Bill seeks to round out the overall picture relating to supporting parents. While the Bill itself does not quite manage this, it has provided the Government with an opportunity to consider the needs of those parents identified and outlined by the Deputies. Of course we, including myself as an Independent, take on board the views expressed and the spirit in which they were made. We are not closing down this debate. I disagree strongly with the remarks that the employers hobbled the Government. I strongly support the emphasis on choice and gender equality, but I am very concerned that we do not reduce mothers’ rights to stay with newborn children.

I agree with the Members on the subject of maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas. It is something we must work on. I also agree with them on the rights of women, trade unions and statutory rights.

Several colleagues raised the EU directive. According to article 8:

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that workers within the meaning of Article 2 are entitled to a continuous period of maternity leave of a least 14 weeks allocated before and/or after confinement in accordance with national legislation and/or practice.

The maternity leave stipulated in paragraph 1 must include compulsory maternity leave of at least two weeks allocated before and/or after confinement in accordance with national legislation and/or practice.

I hope the Deputies will accept the reasons put forward in this debate as to why the Government cannot support this Bill. The Bill falls short of the Deputies’ intentions to provide another layer of support for families. I will not labour the point, but I think we are all in agreement, and I would be disappointed and surprised if we were not, that we cannot proceed with legislation that would breach EU law, foster a culture that expects mothers to return to work immediately post birth and would reduce and remove the long-standing, existing protections already afforded to those on maternity leave or who care for newborns.

This Bill, it enacted, would incur expenditure for the Exchequer as the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection would have to develop a system that would allow for the maternity benefit payments to be transferred from a mother to a father. As a result, this Bill will require a money message to proceed.

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