Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 608: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the details of parental leave under the present legislation; the changes intended in the new legislation; when those changes are likely to come into effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19264/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Parental Leave Act 1998, which came into effect on 3 December 1998, provides an individual and non-transferable entitlement to parents to 14 weeks unpaid leave from work per child to take care of young children. The leave must be taken before the child reaches five years of age, except in certain circumstances in the case of an adopted child.

The Act also provides an entitlement to limited paid force majeure leave for urgent family reasons owing to the injury or illness of an immediate family member, in circumstances where the presence of the employee, at the place where the family member is ill or injured, is indispensable. The employee may not be absent on force majeure leave for more than three days in any period of 12 consecutive months or five days in any period of 36 consecutive months. During an absence on force majeure leave an employee is regarded as being in the employment of the employer and retains all of his or her employment rights.

In accordance with section 28 of the Parental Leave Act 1998 and a Government commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, a working group chaired by my Department and comprising representatives from relevant Departments and the social partners was established in 2001 to review the operation of the Act. The report of the working group on the review of the Parental Leave Act 1998 was published in April 2002 and is available on my Department's website www.justice.ie and in the Oireachtas Library. The Government is committed, as part of the Sustaining Progress partnership agreement, to strengthen the parental leave scheme in line with the agreed recommendations of the social partners arising from the working group.

The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004 which implements the range of improvements agreed by the social partners was published on 16 December 2004. The main provisions of the Bill which is currently awaiting Second Stage in the House include: raising the maximum age of the eligible child from five to eight years; an increase in the maximum age of the eligible child to 16 years in the case of children with disabilities; extension of parental leave entitlements to persons acting in loco parentis in respect of an eligible child; a statutory entitlement to take the 14 weeks parental leave in separate blocks of a minimum of six continuous weeks, or more favourable terms with the agreement of the employer; that an employee who falls ill while on parental leave and as a result is unable to care for the child may suspend the parental leave for the duration of the illness following which period the parental leave recommences and provision for statutory codes of practice on the manner in which parental leave and force majeure leave might be taken and the manner in which an employer can terminate parental leave.

The changes provided for in the Bill come into effect on its enactment.