Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this important and welcome legislation. Any measure that helps the process of combining work and family life must be welcomed. I agree with all the amendments contained in the Bill. However, there are some areas in which I feel the Bill fails to address the needs of parents. The Government has let families down and has missed the opportunity to make this legislation even better by making working life easier for families.

One of the most important issues of concern to parents relates to the management of their child care and the working day. The attempt to combine these two responsibilities creates great difficulties for parents. Where we can provide family friendly policies we certainly get happier employees and children. It is essential we do all we can to ensure we give everybody concerned the best possible quality of life. We are all aware of the stress involved in combining work and child rearing, which tells on families and is transmitted to children. Providing parental leave is a measure in addition to maternity leave that allows parents time off at a time when they need to be with their children.

I am critical of the Government for having missed an opportunity to provide paid parental leave, which was a recommendation of some members of the working group. I am disappointed that the working group as a whole did not recommend paid parental leave. The Minister of State and his senior colleague had an opportunity to take a decision to improve this provision by providing paid parental leave and bringing Ireland up to speed with many other EU nations, which do so. In addition we could have extended the period of parental leave, as the Minister of State is now suggesting. Fourteen weeks is a very short period in a child's life, even for a child up to the age of eight, particularly for parents who have been working from the time of that child's birth following maternity leave. I recommend that we should allow at least 25 weeks' parental leave, which should be paid.

By not giving paid parental leave, we are disadvantaging the most vulnerable in society, working people. As the Minister of State outlined, it is mostly mothers who are being put at risk of not being able to take advantage of parental leave. People on low incomes will not be able to take unpaid leave. Who can afford to take time off without pay when they are on a low income? How could a single parent avail of parental leave without pay? We will compound mistakes we have made in the past by making the difference between being rich and poor the difference between being able to avail of parental leave and not being able to avail of it. It is a major fault with the Bill that those on low pay and single parents will not be able to avail of it. Therefore, we are failing many people in our society.

It is interesting that the majority of parents availing of parental leave are women. While we have always accepted that women are the principal carers and will take time off for parent-teacher meetings or if the child is sick, I must ask why this is the case. The Minister of State's study has confirmed that it is mainly mothers who avail of parental leave. This is because women are generally on lower pay. Cases still exist where women do not get equal pay for equal work. If we provided for paid parental leave more fathers would avail of it, which would be good. Fathers are entitled to this leave and we should make it easier for fathers to do so and get involved with their children, perhaps when they are on school holidays or at other times when they are off school. It is mostly mothers who attend parent-teacher meetings in schools. We should provide paid parental leave as other countries do.

We should make parental leave more flexible. I am disappointed that this has not been provided for in the Bill. Parental leave is non-transferable, which represents a flaw in the Bill. I do not see why one parent should opt for this leave at the beginning. If two parents are involved in the rearing of an eligible child, both parents should be able to avail of parental leave.

An employee seeking a shorter period of parental leave, whether a day at a time, half a day or a few hours, must do so in agreement with the employer. If the employer does not agree to allow the employee to take the shorter period, has the employee any comeback? If the employer decides this is not suitable to him or her, can the employee insist on taking the leave?

I welcome the provisions allowing a parent to postpone or suspend parental leave in the event of sickness, ensuring that an employee availing of such leave cannot be discriminated against and that promotional prospects are not affected, and allowing parents to take leave in separate blocks. These will all enable parents to increase the uptake of the leave. However, I reiterate that I am not alone in expressing my disappointment over the non-payment for this leave. The National Women's Council of Ireland and other groups including One Family have expressed their disappointment at the missed opportunity by the Government not to extend paid parental leave and paternity leave to families. I would like the Minister of State to address this matter and I will table amendments on Committee Stage.

I hope the Minister of State will reconsider these issues, as we are way behind other countries. We must do everything we can to ensure that working families and children benefit from the great contribution they are making to our economy today and that people will continue to stay in the workplace. I notice that many women with a husband on a good salary opt to stay at home. We will create divisions in society if only those who can afford to give up their jobs will do so and this Bill could add to that problem. I thank the Minister of State for listening and I hope he will take on board the points I have made.