Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 208: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the facilities and supports made available by her Department to its staff to meet their child care needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28890/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The following family friendly schemes are available to staff in my Department: flexitime gives staff the flexibility of varying their starting times between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and their finishing times between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.; the Department's worksharing scheme allows staff to avail of a 40%, 50%, 60%, 73%, 75% or 80% attendance pattern; maternity leave or adoptive leave, which enables women to take 18 weeks' paid maternity leave or 16 weeks' paid adoptive leave with the option of taking a further eight weeks' unpaid leave; paternity leave, which entitles a father to three days' special leave with pay on the birth or adoption of his child; parental leave, which allows the parent of a child up to eight years to take a block of 14 weeks' unpaid leave or spread it over a period of time; and the term time scheme, which allows staff to avail of eight, ten or 13 weeks' leave during the summer months. Salary is either unpaid for the period or paid pro rata over the year; force majeure leave entitles a parent to three days' paid leave in one year or five days' paid leave over three years owing to sudden injury or illness of a child; and special unpaid leave of two months' or six months' duration is available for domestic reasons; a career break facility of between six months and five years is also available to all members of staff.

A fully fitted room is provided in the Department for nursing mothers returning from maternity leave. There are also two crèches in Dublin for children of civil servants. These are based in Marlborough Street and Mount Street and staff in my Department may avail of them.