Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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606. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider the establishment of a working group within his Department to examine the impact of the motherhood gap in the workplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1769/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ensuring that women can fully participate in the workplace is central to developing a gender equal society. Addressing barriers to this forms part of Government policy on gender equality and requires a range of policy solutions.

We know that the burden of childcare in working families falls predominantly on women, and can be a barrier to their full participation in the workforce. The Parent's Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced 2 weeks' paid, non-transferrable leave to both parents in the first year of their child's life to ensure that fathers as well as mothers are supported in spending time with their child in his or her earliest years. I will introduce a Bill early in 2021 which will extend Parent's Leave and Benefit to five weeks for each parent, and the period in which it can be taken to two years.

I will also bring forward Government amendments to progress the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019. This Bill, when passed, will oblige companies over a certain size to publish information on their gender pay gap. It is hoped that transparency around this important subject will build awareness within companies and the wider public of the gender pay gap and to take steps to address the gender pay parity.

The National Strategy for Women and Girls includes a series of actions to promote equality for women, including mothers, in the workplace. These Strategy is a whole-of-Government strategy which involves actions by relevant Government Departments to advance women's equality, including in the workplace.