Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will introduce legislation to increase maternity leave entitlements in the State to 26 weeks paid and 26 weeks unpaid leave in view of the severe difficulties faced by working mothers due to the lack of available and affordable child care. [12176/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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A review of the maternity protection legislation was carried out in 2000 by a working group, chaired by my Department, which comprised the social partners and relevant Departments and agencies. The working group recommended an increase in the maternity leave entitlement, which attracts a payment from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, from 14 weeks to 18 weeks and an increase in the unpaid additional maternity leave entitlement from four weeks to eight weeks. These increases were implemented in March 2001 shortly after the group completed its deliberations.

The Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004, which was commenced on 18 October 2004, implemented a range of improvements in the maternity rights of working women but made no provision for a further extension of the maternity leave periods beyond the improvements already implemented and agreed with the social partners. The Government has no plans at present to introduce any further increases to the duration of maternity leave.

This Government has worked actively over the past eight years to increase the supply and quality of child care places to meet the needs of working parents. It has provided more than €499 million in funding for this purpose under the national development plan and the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006, which aimed to increase the supply of centre based child care places by 55% or about 31,000 additional centre based child care places by programme end. The programme is now expected to deliver at least 36,000 new places making a much wider choice of centre based child care available to parents across Ireland. By the end of 2004 more than 24,600 of these new child care places were already in place. The programme also aims to provide support and assistance to the many childminders who are providing a child care service in their own homes and promotes quality enhancement for the broad child care sector.