Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the extension of parent's benefit from five to seven weeks will take effect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34928/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 110 together.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. The Parent's Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced two weeks of paid parent's leave for each parent to be taken in the first year after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. Following the commencement of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021, an additional three weeks of paid parent's leave is available to each parent, and the period in which the leave can be taken has been extended to the first two years after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. Budget 2022 provided for parent's leave and benefit to be extended from five weeks for each parent to seven weeks. I am pleased that this extension came into effect on 1 July. The additional two weeks of leave and benefit will apply to parents of children who are under the age of two in July 2022 or in the case of adoption, children who have been with their parents for less than two years at that point. Parent's benefit is currently paid at €250 per week. Parent's benefit can be paid in separate weekly blocks or can be paid over a consecutive period. Since the introduction of the scheme, up to the end of June this year, my Department has awarded more than 100,000 parent's benefit claims at a cost in excess of €65 million.

I am delighted that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and I have been able to progress this and increase it to seven weeks since it first started. The support applies to both parents. The Government's ambition is to ensure parents can enjoy meaningful, quality time with their newborn children in the knowledge that they will be financially supported. The Deputy knows that it is important that parents have the opportunity to spend time with their children in those early, formative years of their lives. I have a little grandson and I spend time with him at any chance I get. It is important that we give them that time because we can buy them all the things in the world, but at the end of the day, there is nothing like time with a child.

That is what makes the difference.

Parent's leave and benefit is available to anyone with a child under the age of two or who has adopted a child within the previous two years. The take up of parent's leave and benefit has increased threefold since 2020. In 2021 a total of 51,400 parents were supported compared to just 16,700 parents in 2020. Since the start of 2022 the total number of applications awarded reached over 28,000.

Already this year 28,000 applications are in and I am absolutely delighted to see that more and more people are applying for it. I note that the number of fathers applying is increasing but I would particularly encourage fathers to take up this benefit and spend time with their children. That is very important.

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman and I continue to work on this. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has responsibility for the policy side and I administer the payments from my Department.

Since the formation of the Government we have increased the parent's leave and benefit from two weeks to seven weeks. This allows tens of thousands of new parents to take time away from work knowing that they are financially supported.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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This is a demand-led scheme. I can assure the Deputy that the people who qualify and submit their applications will get the funding. There is no doubt about that. With regard to the numbers who have claimed this year, it is some 22,000 people already. We would expect that to double. Last year in 2021 it was 51,395 applications. Up to the end of May this year 27,488 claims were awarded. Given it was 51,020 in 2021 and 27,488 to the end of May this year, I would be very surprised if we do not exceed the figures from 2021. The funding is there for it. I would encourage as many people as possible to take it up. In Deputy Burke's county of Cork, 6,629 people have claimed the parent's benefit from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. I have a list of the counties. Dublin, of course, is the highest with 13,400 people who have claimed the benefit.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The people who qualify for this payment are the applicants who have received maternity benefit, adoptive benefit, or paternity benefit for their child. They will automatically satisfy the PRSI contribution requirements to receive parent's benefit. A person must be paying PRSI to qualify. The payment is €250 per week.

The question was asked whether single parents can get this benefit. Under the EU directive single parents cannot get this benefit on the double. The single parent can get it for himself or herself but they cannot get it a second time. The benefit goes to both parents, the father and the mother.

In 2022, 35% of the claims were from males and 65% were females. That trend is actually improving. In 2021 only 28% of applicants claiming the benefit were male and now it is 35%. In 2021 it was 72% female and that figure has gone slightly down, which is now at 65%. Hopefully, there will be more claims coming in. Parents have two years to claim the benefits from the time of the birth of the child. It was only one year but I have extended this to two years to make it easier.

The Deputy asked about carers. These are all things that will be considered in the budget. The budget is not too long away now. The budget will focus on the cost of living as well as tax measures.