Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I too thank Senator Sherlock for raising this very important issue. All forms of family leave are kept under review to ensure that they are effective in supporting families and children. The Maternity Protection Act 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 provide a pregnant employee with six months of paid maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave. The Irish Cancer Society's Leave our Leave campaign highlighted the difficulties faced by those who are diagnosed with cancer while pregnant or on maternity leave, who then miss out on precious time with their new babies because they are spending their maternity leave undergoing treatment.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, met with the Irish Cancer Society to discuss this last year and he announced his intention last October to bring forward proposals to allow for deferral of maternity leave where a mother falls ill during this period. Departmental officials have been considering this proposal and the Minister hopes to bring it to Cabinet shortly. It is planned to bring this forward together with a number of amendments arising out of the Department's review of Ireland's equality legislation and also to take this opportunity to legislate for maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas. Departmental officials are seeking legal advice on a number of matters before the remaining few outstanding proposals from this process can be finalised and brought to Cabinet. The wider review has examined the functioning of the Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015, and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality.

A major component of this review was a public consultation in 2021. The Department invited written submissions from July to December 2021 and was pleased to receive an extensive response of more than 550 submissions from stakeholders and interested persons. The public were asked for their views on the functioning and accessibility of the Acts; the scope of the current equality grounds; whether existing exemptions should be modified or removed; and whether the legislation adequately addresses intersectionality. A report summarising the key issues raised in the public consultation was published in July of last year, and the proposals are being finalised.

In addition to the proposals relating to maternity leave that I have just discussed, the Government has introduced significant improvements to the entitlements to family leave for working families in recent years. The Government committed in the programme for Government to supporting parents, including by extending paid leave for parents in the form of seven weeks' parent's leave for each parent, to be taken within a child's first two years. Parent's leave and benefit will increase by a further two weeks to nine weeks by August 2024.

Under the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019, which extended both the amount of leave and the time period in which it can be taken, an employee who is a relevant parent in respect of a child under the age of 12 is entitled to 26 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child. Where a child has a disability or long-term illness, the entitlement can continue until the child is 16. A "relevant parent" is a parent, an adoptive parent, or a person acting in loco parentis.

The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 was enacted on 4 April 2023, and introduces important entitlements for workers, including leave for medical care purposes for parents of children under 12, and the right to request flexible working for parents and carers. The Act also includes provisions to transpose Article 9 of the EU work life balance directive and provide for a right to request flexible working for parents and carers. In addition, the Act includes amendments to the Maternity Protection Acts to provide for the extension of breast-feeding breaks, and introduced domestic violence leave.

In January, the Department published a research report on the experiences of people affected by a loss of pregnancy while working. The Department commissioned researchers in UCC to undertake this research project with the aim of guiding it on how best to support those who experience a pregnancy loss while in employment. The report provides recommendations for policymakers, in addition to information on legal standards and good practice from other jurisdictions. It is the Minister's intention that this report would assist the creation and implementation of policy in this area.