Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 599: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position and method by which carer's leave can be taken by a person; if it is necessary that it should be taken in blocks of a minimum of 13 weeks, whereby employees often feel that four or six weeks would be adequate; if, in this context in particular, it is the policy of the Health Service Executive to insist that it be taken in blocks of a minimum of 13 weeks; if same is mandatory or optional; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14756/07]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Carer's Leave Act 2001 (as amended) provides that a person may take leave for up to 104 weeks to care for a person who is deemed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs to be in need of such care. Carer's Leave may be taken in either one continuous period of 104 weeks or by one or more periods, the total duration of which does not amount to more than 104 weeks.

The minimum statutory period of carer's leave is 13 weeks. An employer may refuse, on reasonable grounds, to permit an employee to avail of carer's leave for less than a 13-week period. When an employer so refuses, s/he must specify in writing to the employee the grounds for such a refusal. Under the terms of the Act, the employer and employee may agree to arrangements for carer's leave that are more favourable to the employee than those set out in the Act. It is a matter for the Health Service Executive and its employees to agree any arrangements for carer's leave that might be more favourable to its employees than those specified in the Act.

If an employee considers that his or her rights have been breached under the Carer's Leave Act 2001 (as amended), he or she can take a case to a Rights Commissioner of the Labour Relations Commission for adjudication and on appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. The entitlement to carer's benefit payment is based on PRSI contributions and is payable by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.