Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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65. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she intends that the Bill to introduce two weeks of paid paternity leave will be a step along the road to introducing a year’s paid parental leave to be shared between mothers and fathers; the timetable for proposed further developments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17143/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Paternity Leave and Benefit Bill 2016 was published on Monday, and I look forward to the Bill's passage through the Oireachtas and the debate on its provisions. The additional steps required to implement the commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government to increase parental leave significantly in the first year of a child’s life will be taken forward by the relevant departments over the next five years, under the aegis of the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy.