Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 142: To ask the Minister for Finance if the new circular 13/2010 regarding parental leave will be extended to public servants, and if so, when this will happen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34834/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The arrangements for parental leave for civil servants come within my area of responsibility. Arrangements in other parts of the public service are the responsibility of the appropriate Minister. The Parental Leave Act 1998 and the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006 set out the statutory entitlements to Parental Leave. All employers have to provide access to up to fourteen weeks' unpaid leave for employees with children under eight years of age. The fourteen weeks can be spread over eight years by agreement, but the employer can insist that they are taken in blocks of at least six weeks.

Within the civil service the arrangements for parental leave are set out in the Department of Finance Circular 20/2008: Parental Leave in the Civil Service, which is available on my Departments website. From 1 September 2010, an amendment to Circular 20/2008 has come into effect and is referred to in the recently published Circular 13/2010, also available on the website. The amendment relates to an increase in the maximum age of the child in respect of whom employees may take parental leave from eight to thirteen years. In the case of an adopted child, where the child is eleven years or more but less than age thirteen, the parental leave must be taken within two years of the adoption order. In the case of a child with a disability, the age limit of sixteen years will still apply.

The total amount of parental leave has not increased, it is simply that the cut off point, the time by which the leave must be taken, has been extended. The change extends access to parental leave and complements the package of measures to reduce the civil service pay bill. All other terms included in the previous circular, 20/2008 will continue to apply.