Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

2.In page 6, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following:

“Reporting

4.(1) The Minister shall, not later than six months after the passing of this Act, carry out a review of the operation of this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Minister, as part of the review, shall— (a) conduct policy and budgetary analysis on a potential further extension of leave under this Act, from five weeks to nine weeks and establish a timeline for this provision,

(b) consider the degree to which EU Directive 2019/1158 requires further transposition into Irish law and present a timeline for its full implementation,

(c) assess the possibility of streamlining all parental leave legislation including Maternity/Paternity/Parental Leave and Benefit to simplify parental leave provision,

(d) examine ways to close the substantial gap between the end of parental leave (including paid and unpaid leave entitlements) and the start of Early Childhood Education and Care entitlement,

(e) examine ways in which paid parental leave can be extended to lone parents in order to provide equality between one-parent families and two-parent families, and

(f) consider the need to increase the rate of payment for leave under this Act to encourage increased take up of the scheme.

I previously tabled an amendment that was ruled out of order, which sought to provide parity in this legislation and would mean that children of one-parent families would have the same entitlement as those in two-parent families. As this Bill progresses, I am conscious that there is a lot of merit in it, but one shadow that will hang over it is that it will enshrine inequality into the law as it passes. I fundamentally believe, and think that anyone would, that children of one-parent families should have the same entitlement to time at home with a parent, which is the most important aspect of this Bill, as any other child in the State. Is it the Minister's belief that inequality is enshrined in this Bill and that children of one-parent families will have unfair outcomes? What remedy does he and his Department suggest so that we can support this in its current form? This amendment, which I will push as much as I can, is about examining ways in which paid parental leave can be extended to lone parents to provide equality between one-parent and two-parent families. That is important but beyond that, I am interested in the Minister's comments about why that has not been factored into the Bill until this point and how it will be remedied.

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