Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There have been significant advances in the provision of family leave in recent years. Since coming into office I have prioritised the expansion of types of family leave in line with Government policy and European legislation. The Parent's Leave and Benefit Act 2019 provides working parents with an entitlement to seven weeks of paid parental leave for each relevant parent, to be taken in the first two years after the birth or adoptive placement of a child.

The intention of that leave is to enable parents to spend time with their child in the earliest years. When this Government took office, the leave amounted to two weeks per parent per year. That has now been increased by five weeks, bringing it to seven weeks. I have done this in conjunction with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. Having talked to some of my friends who are at that stage of life, I know it is a measure that is making a real difference. In addition, the legislation has been corrected to address an anomaly whereby male same-sex adopting parents could not avail of paid adoptive leave.

As the Deputy mentioned, the work life balance Bill was before the Dáil yesterday and will resume today. Under the Bill, parents and carers will have the right to request flexible working, in line with Article 9 of the EU directive, and five days unpaid leave per year for medical care purposes will be introduced. The Bill will also extend the current entitlement to breast-feeding or lactation breaks, under the Maternity Protection Acts, from six months to two years. This is a significant measure. As so many women take up their full entitlement of maternity leave, which they are right to do, they do not get to avail of the right of breast-feeding breaks. The fact that the cut-off point will no longer be six months and will increase to two years will be of significance benefit to women returning to work after giving birth. On Committee Stage, we will bring in five days' paid domestic violence leave. This is important legislation for which there is strong support across the House and I look forward to introducing these measures.

See this speech in context