Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004 does not make provision for the introduction of payment in respect of parental leave. [31453/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004 provides for a range of improvements to the existing parental leave legislation which will offer greater flexibility to working parents. The main provisions of the Bill are as follows: 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; 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.

The question of introducing paid parental leave was considered by the working group on the review of the Parental Leave Act 1998 in 2001 which was convened under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness social partnership agreement. However, the working group, which comprised representatives from the relevant Departments and the social partners, did not reach agreement on the principle of paid parental leave.

In the course of the working group's deliberations, some members of the group expressed concerns in relation to the adoption of any new measures which would result in increased costs for employers, particularly small employers and the need to maintain international competitiveness. In subsequent negotiations on the Sustaining Progress partnership agreement, no agreement was made by the social partners on paid parental leave and the Government does not propose to introduce legislative change which one side of social partnership cannot accept. Consequently, the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004 makes no provision for paid parental leave.