Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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29. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the recent extension to paid parental leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37612/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Parent’s Benefit is a payment for employed people, who are on Parent’s Leave from work, and self-employed people who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions.

Parent's Leave and Benefit are available to all eligible parents of children born or adopted from 1 November 2019 and must be availed of within the first two years of the child’s life or adoption. Parent’s Benefit is paid at €274 per week - the same rate as Maternity, Paternity and Adoptive Benefits.

In Budget 2024 I provided for the number of weeks of Parent's Leave and Benefit available to each eligible parent to be increased from seven weeks to nine weeks. This increase took effect from August 2024. The estimated cost of this increase in Parent's Benefit is €10.3 million in 2024 and the overall estimated cost for a full year is €25.6 million.

In the seven months prior to the Parent's Benefit extension my Department received an average of almost 6,600 Parents Benefit claims per month. Data for the month of August indicates the Department has received just over 14,000 claims for Parents Benefit.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.