Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister very much for being here to listen to the discussion on this very important Bill, the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2021. This legislation will help every child to get the best possible start in life, allowing parents to spend more time with their children during the first year of their life. This Bill seeks to amend the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 to increase the duration of parent's leave during which benefit is paid from two to five weeks. Each parent will be given an additional three weeks of paid leave and the period in which this can be taken will be extended to the first two years following the child's birth or adoptive placement. This legislation will also apply in respect of children born since 1 November 2019.

Parent's leave benefit is paid at the rate of €245 per week. It is expected that this investment in parental support for children will cost €28.6 million this year and €22 million a year thereafter, supporting up to 39,000 parents. As the Minister will be well aware, the Covid-19 pandemic has proven particularly difficult for parents over the past 18 months. I encourage all Deputies in the House to support this Bill.

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