Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:

"(2) The Minister shall, in the interests of equality, within three months of the enactment of the this Act, cause a Report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas examining the feasibility of introducing paid parental leave."

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, to the House. I was unhappy with his response on Committee Stage last week. Since then, the debate has broadened as regards work and parents, particularly parents on low incomes regardless of whether they are single parents or families on low incomes. The reason I tabled this amendment is that single parents and families on low incomes will not be able to avail of parental leave because they will be unable to afford to take unpaid leave. I have taken on board the Minister of State's response last week and endeavoured to make my amendment more acceptable to him by framing it to require him to examine the possibility of introducing paid parental leave in the interests of achieving equality for everybody.

The decision to provide unpaid parental leave, in the knowledge that the option will be open only to those who can afford it, must be considered as part of any study undertaken by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on how single parents and those on low incomes are paid. I ask the Minister of State to accept the amendment, which is fair, and invite him to consider the possibility of introducing paid parental leave.