Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is not good practice to put references to the presentation of reports in primary legislation. All of us in this House give out about chunky Bills. The recent practice of requiring reports on legislation does not achieve anything. I can produce reports without having them provided for in primary legislation. When I give my word in this Chamber or at a meeting of a committee that I will produce a report, the Deputy will be able to hold me to account on that.

I ask that requests for reports are not put in primary legislation. I will be happy to give Deputy Kerrane and the other Deputies here such a commitment in respect of the various issues raised.

As for this amendment, my Department does the payments in respect of parent's benefit. It is the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth that has the policy responsibility and the legislative responsibility. I accept that Deputy Kerrane has brought this matter to my attention previously. It has also been brought to my attention by One Family and I have raised the matter. Under the EU work-life balance directive, parent's leave is not transferable between parents. This recognises the importance of equality between men and women in respect of labour market opportunities and the importance of fathers bringing up their children. It should encourage an increase in the number of men taking parent's leave. A provision to allow one parent to take the dual entitlement to leave would place an increased burden on that individual's employer. As the Deputy will be aware, the employee's eligibility for parent's benefit follows his or her eligibility for associated leave, assuming the social insurance contributions and other qualifying payments are met. The policy on parent's leave is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. As I said, he has responsibility for this and I am happy to raise it with him. It is something we should consider.

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