Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The amendment proposes to delete section 9 of the Bill, as initiated, in order to remove subsections (1A)(a), (b), (c) and (d) and any consequential references and to insert a new section 9 in the Bill which applies the appropriate increases to the periods of fathers' leave under section 16 of the principal Act, consequential to a previous Government amendment.

Subsections (1A)(a), (b), (c) and (d) of section 9 as initiated create an unintended link between the father's leave entitlement and the mother's leave entitlement. This is inconsistent with section 16 of the principal Act which provides for certain leave entitlements for a father in his own right, if he is in a contract of employment, in the event of the death of the mother within 22 weeks of the birth of a living child. For example, subsection (1A)(a) provides that if the mother terminated her additional maternity leave under section 14A of the Bill and subsequently died, then the father, provided he is employed under a contract of employment, would not be entitled to leave from his employment.