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

The proposed section 21 put forward by this amendment is taken from the Parental Leave Act 1998. An equivalent provision is not included in the Adoptive Leave Act or the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act. Instead, these Acts rely on provisions similar to section 20 of this Bill. Section 20 gives the employee the right to return to the same job he or she held before going on leave. Where that job was not the employee's usual job, he or she can return to the usual job or the job held immediately before leave was taken. There would be a concern that if that was not the case and if people could not go back to the same jobs, they may not take the leave at all. We are talking about parent's leave.

The proposed section 21 would allow return to a different job subject to some safeguards. I am of the opinion that parent's leave is more closely related to paternity, adoptive and maternity leave than to parental leave as provided for in the 1998 Act, which is where this proposal comes from. The latter is unpaid and is taken over a longer period - up to when the child is 12 years of age - than the other forms of leave. The kind of flexibility provided to the employer in this situation may be justified by this consideration. I see it as inappropriate to apply the provision to parent's leave uniquely among the forms of leave taken at an earlier stage of the child's life. Moreover, parent's leave is of a relatively short duration. It cannot be more than nine weeks.

There is also an error in the amendment. One paragraph refers to "while on parental leave". That is a different form of leave. We are bringing in what we call "parent's leave". This is the Parent's Leave and Benefits Bill and does not relate to parental leave, which is unpaid. There is an error in the amendment which would make it unworkable and confusing in any event.

I believe what is working well with maternity leave, adoptive leave and paternity leave as it stands is what we want to do here rather than make a change. They are all of the same family or grouping. In contrast, parental leave is unpaid.

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