Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the age threshold for parental leave. From September 2020 each parent is entitled to 26 weeks' unpaid parental leave. However, they must take that leave before the child is 12 years of age, or 16 if the child has a disability. I recently wrote to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to ask if his Department would consider increasing the age limit to 14 or 15 years. I have been approached by a large number of parents who are struggling with childcare especially during school holidays. In 2019, the Parental Leave Act was amended and the leave period was increased from 18 to 22 and then 26 weeks from September 2020. However, the threshold was also increased from eight to 12 years of age. I am asking that we consider increasing the threshold so that parents can avail of the leave during the holidays.

Despite how sensible many 13 or 14 year olds might be, they can panic and react in an unexpected way to incidents at home. Unfortunately many parents have no other option but to take the calculated risk as many teenagers object to being baby-sat and are eager to prove how grown up they are. There are all sorts of camps for children under 12 to keep them busy during the summer holidays. However, once they reach 12 these camps are very limited. Times have changed. Statistics show us, and we can all readily observe, that children and young adults today live their lives with mobile devices in their hands. It is not only the stranger outside the home that is the fear now. Parents now face risks which include children coming into contact with adults posing as children online, strangers who persuade teenagers to meet them in real life and online scammers. The risks to children inside the home are now an even bigger worry for parents. I ask the Minister to consider increasing the age limit for parental leave to ensure that parents who want to avail of it for their teenager can do so.