Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 3, in which we outline a number of areas we think the Minister should report to the Dáil on in a number of months. It is good policy to have a review of this legislation because we need to understand how it impacts people and how it can be improved, so it is important that there is a continual review of the legislation that passes. This amendment contains a number of areas that we would appreciate the Minister considering as part of that review.

The first is about policy and budgetary analysis of potential further extension of leave under the accurate and how the EU directive relating to work-life balance is transposed, and requires a timeline for that. We will all agree that Ireland falls well behind our European neighbours when it comes to parental leave. It is important that we invest and are ambitious in ensuring that our parents and families have the State supports they need, especially in those early years of a child's life. When things are tough, it is hard for parents to balance work, their family life and looking after their children. It is important that we focus and invest strongly in those years for parents.

There is a question about whether primary legislation was required to extend parental leave to nine weeks and whether the 2019 Act empowers the Minister to do that. Will he say why we had to go through this process? Over the past year, when parents were under significant pressure because of Covid and people were losing work, with uncertainty about how they would be able to manage to financially support their families, there were calls for months for us to bring this in. Did we need to wait for this legislation to happen? Could we not have done this and given that clarity and certainty to the parents who were calling for it? There is an issue with us doing this piecemeal and I know that there are requirements under EU legislation. Parents would benefit from a clear timeline for that will be rolled out. Waiting for a week here or a week there for that to be announced is no way for parents to plan their families, finances and the support that will be available. We know what we are required to do under EU legislation.

I ask that the Minister clearly sets out how the Government is going to meet that requirement so that families have clarity and certainty on those supports.

Section 4(2)(c) of the amendment mentions the streamlining of parental leave legislation. At the moment there is maternity, paternity and parental leave benefit, and paid and unpaid leave. It is an incredibly confusing system. I imagine any new family starting to look into it would find it very difficult to navigate. It also makes it very difficult for us as a State to measure how we are doing against other countries, because the terminologies and conditions differ, for example, in respect of whether leave is voluntary, unpaid or not. We must streamline it. It comes down to parental certainty and enabling parents to know what leave is available to them. While starting a family is a fantastically exciting time, parents are exhausted and do not want to have to navigate this very bureaucratic system to find out what supports are available. I ask the Minister to streamline the supports and the nomenclature used relating to them.

I ask the Minister to examine ways to close the substantial gap between the end of parental leave, including paid and unpaid entitlements, and the start of early childhood education. For any family who have a child and have benefited from accessing maternity or parental leave, there is a huge gap between that finishing and when the child is eligible for the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. During that period, parents have to pay enormous childcare fees, which are really out of kilter with what our European neighbours have to fund. In many instances, the cost is the equivalent of another mortgage. For parents in Ireland, there is an acceptance that this is just how things are. They buckle down for the first few years of their children's lives, knowing they will be financially insecure during that period. They know it will be a stressful and pressurised few years, but they buckle down and get on with it because they do not expect any more from the State. If they were to look at our European neighbours and realise exactly how much better other countries are doing this, parents in this country would feel very aggrieved. Currently, the gap between the end of paid and unpaid leave and the beginning of subsidised preschool in Ireland is 17.6 months, which is a considerable time. We are outlier in that respect. It is a pressurised enough time for parents, so we must narrow that gap and ensure supports are in place. In 12 member states, there is no gap at all, while we have a gap of 17.6 months.

Another thing we find and I have seen quite a bit is when mothers go back to work, because it is usually mothers who return to work, all their salary is going towards childcare costs. They do it because they think that in two years' time their children will be eligible for the ECCE scheme, then start school, and they will then actually start to see some income from the work they are doing. That is no way to live. I ask the Minister to seek to reduce that gap.

My colleague, Deputy Gannon, raised the issue of extending paid parental leave to lone parents. When this Bill and these provisions were first discussed in the Dáil, I believe the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, spoke about it. She said that there will be an extra six weeks' leave available for families when this leave is introduced. The Minister himself also commented at a committee meeting that there will be an extra six weeks' leave available. They both made the assumption that there are two parents in each family. We all know that is not the case. Families come in all shapes and sizes and our policies and supports should reflect that. When we are talking about paid parental leave, there are obvious benefits to a parent being able to spend time with his or her child. However, this must be a child-centred policy and should be about a child spending time with his or her parent or parents. In the case of lone-parent families, if a parent is managing the family on his or her own, they are in particular need of State support and for the State to give him or her the help that he or she needs. This issue was raised before the Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration and was put forward as one of the recommendations. It is a missed opportunity that the Minister did not seek to introduce a mechanism by which a lone parent could be given the two allocations of leave so that he or she would have the full entitlement of parental leave. I ask that the Minister does that. It is really important that we support parents who find it particularly difficult parenting alone.

I also want to raise the issue of the rate of payment for this leave and encouraging people to take up this scheme. It is an issue on which we must focus. When the payment is being made, there is an acknowledgement and a need to make sure it is not just mothers who take up this leave. I know that it is an issue of which the Minister is conscious. We must ensure that when there are two parents parenting, both parents take this leave. I do acknowledge there will be barriers in some families, particularly for some men, whether cultural or financial. I ask the Minister to examine that on review of this Bill, looking at how the scheme is working, who is taking the leave, if it is being fully allocated, and how we can address the concerns or barriers in respect of why people may not be taking up all of this leave.

I am sure Members all saw the media reports today that New Zealand has introduced paid leave for women who have suffered a miscarriage. I ask the Minister to look into and examine the possibility of introducing such leave. Currently, there is no provision or support for any woman who loses her baby before 24 weeks' gestation. The options available are to take unpaid leave or sick leave. Even the five days' bereavement leave currently available does not recognise miscarriage. I ask the Minister to look into this issue. A mother should not have to take sick leave when she is not sick. The loss of a baby is an incredibly traumatic event. It is a huge loss to any family. Our leave and supports should recognise that. What New Zealand has done is a very good model and it has shown real leadership with its introduction. I ask the Minster to consider the issue. If a woman loses a baby at ten weeks, 15 weeks or 20 weeks, it is an incredibly difficult time. I ask the Minister to look into supporting those families when they have suffered in such a way.

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