Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the arrangements for maternity leave within the public bodies under the aegis of his Department; if he will consider providing an additional eight weeks' paid leave in regard to maternity leave; the likely cost thereof; the likely cost to the Exchequer of six weeks' paid parental leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12735/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The four statutory agencies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Pensions Board, the Combat Poverty Agency, Comhairle and the family support agency. The Pensions Ombudsman's office also comes under the remit of my Department. The terms and conditions for maternity leave which apply in the agencies are in accordance with the terms provided for in the Maternity Protection Acts 1994, as revised in October 2004. Entitlement to maternity benefit is contingent on entitlement to maternity leave, legislation for which is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

For employees paying PRSI contributions which cover maternity benefit, the arrangements in place are either full salary paid less maternity benefit, which is paid directly to the employee, or full salary paid to the employee and the maternity benefit paid directly to the agency during the core maternity leave period of 18 weeks. Employees paying PRSI contributions not covering maternity benefit are paid full salary during the core maternity leave period.

The maternity benefit scheme has been significantly improved over the past four years, in both the duration of payment and the level at which it is paid. The estimated cost of the maternity benefit scheme for 2005 is €137.1 million, an increase of €59 million since 2001. Improvements were made as recently as 2001, to increase core maternity leave, which attracted an entitlement to maternity benefit, from 14 to 18 weeks. The period of unpaid maternity leave was also increased from four to eight weeks, bringing the total period of maternity leave to which a woman is entitled to 26 weeks. Based on the current average number of recipients and average rate of payment an increase in the duration of maternity benefit by eight weeks would cost approximately €60.9 million in a full year.

While there are no plans to extend the period for which maternity benefit is paid, I have advised that this issue be kept under constant review. On the question of paid parental benefit, any such entitlement would be contingent on an underlying entitlement to parental leave. Responsibility for the current provisions on parental leave rests primarily with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The question of introducing a payment for periods of parental leave, including the question of whether such a payment should be made by employers or in the form of a social welfare payment, has been examined by the working group established under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to review the operation of the Parental Leave Act 1998. In its report, published in 2002, the working group said that it could not reach a consensus on the issue and therefore no specific proposals for paid parental leave were advanced. The cost of a social welfare parental leave benefit would depend on a number of factors, including the level of such payment, the duration of payment and the level of take up. The working group concluded that a payment equivalent to the rate of disability benefit and lasting for 14 weeks would cost approximately €35.5 million, while a payment equivalent to the rate of maternity benefit would cost approximately €78 million a year. Given labour force trends and the increase in payment rates it is likely that costs would have increased since that time.

There would also be additional Exchequer costs arising from the payroll costs of the many public servants who do not pay full PRSI contribution. It is clear that the introduction of paid parental leave would have significant cost implications for employers and-or the Exchequer and the social insurance fund. Any proposals for introducing any such a payment would have to examined with regard to its effect on the sustainability of the social insurance fund and employers' costs.