Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber today and thank him for the work he has been doing on this matter over the past number of weeks. I also want to thank him for facilitating Zoom meetings and briefings he gave beforehand. They were very helpful and more Ministers should be encouraged to do this.

I welcome this Bill to increase a parent's leave from two weeks to five weeks over a 24-month period. Most importantly, it includes same-sex couples as part of this provision. This was long overdue and is very much to be welcomed.

I must declare a personal interest in this issue. This leave for parents will be backdated to 1 November 2019. I had my first child on 11 December 2019. I timed it well, as I said to my wife. This has been a hot topic for a constituent of mine who lives in our house. She has been bringing it up constantly about when this measure will come into force. She, like many mothers, has had a difficult time over the past year of not having what one would describe as a normal maternity leave.What has been brought in today is recognition of that as well as recognition of joint parental leave between two parents. It has been an incredibly difficult time for parents and support such as this will be welcomed. Listening to anyone I have spoken with and the way I look at it myself, this leave is for the child, not really for the parent. I do not know of any parent who says "Jeepers, I have got five weeks off, that is brilliant". It is not about that but about connecting with the child. Other Senators spoke about how it is predominantly seen as something done by females. There is sense in that. When we talk about this leave, I am entitled to it myself but I have not thought about taking it. It is nothing to do with the stereotype of the father just not taking the time off but more to do with politics in general. I suppose most people in this Chamber would relate to that. It is there for the child. Senator Currie spoke about parental leave if one is a lone parent, so that five weeks would become ten weeks. That is how we should look at this leave, in that it is for the child rather than for parents.

The Minister might comment on the other matter I wish to touch on, which we might need to look at in the future and relates to shared parental leave over a longer period of time. It is done in other countries, including the UK, where there are 50 weeks of shared parental leave, 37 weeks of which are paid. It is done in Germany where there are 12 weeks of maternity leave but up to 24 months of shared parental leave. In Spain, men used to have 12 weeks but now they have 16 weeks of leave. There is substantial support for both people in a relationship. I know a number of Senators have talked about how sometimes certain people feel like there is an obligation to babysit their own child. I know where that argument is coming from but I do not understand how men could see it as such. It is now 4.55 p.m. and my main concern, once I sit down, is when this debate will finish and whether I can get home before Jamie goes to bed at 8 p.m. I do not understand how people could see it as babysitting or anything like that.

If we look at this as shared parental leave going forward for a longer stretch, it has a knock-on effect in the shape of unconscious bias for employment of staff. When looking at a male and a female looking for a job, there is an unconscious bias, but if there was shared paternity leave for a longer time, that would have a positive impact for women. We should look at what other countries have done and the positive impact this has had in other countries. I think it would be the same in Ireland. I thank the Minister for introducing this Bill. It is welcome in my family.