Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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781. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the correspondence (details supplied); the steps being considered in relation to the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44834/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Leave entitlements for public servants, including teachers, are determined by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. Under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998, the Minister for Education, with the concurrence of the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, is authorised to determine the terms and conditions of employment for teachers employed in approved teaching posts funded by monies provided by the Oireachtas.

Currently, as there is no legislative entitlement to foster leave in Ireland, there is no overarching civil service or public sector policy pertaining to leave entitlements for foster parents.

The Parental Leave Scheme for teachers is regulated by the Parental Leave Act 1998, as amended. The terms and conditions of the for primary and post primary teachers are contained in my Department's (Chapter 5). Parental Leave is a period of statutory unpaid leave available to a teacher for the specific purpose of caring for their child. Parental Leave is available to a) the natural parent, b) the adoptive parent c) the adopting parent and d) a teacher acting in loco parentis to a child. Under the Parental Leave Scheme, an eligible teacher may avail of Parental Leave in blocks of at least one week up to a maximum of 26 weeks in respect of each child up to the age of 16 years. In certain circumstances, a teacher may avail of Parental Leave in the form of individual days where a child has particular medical problems that require the teacher’s attendance with the child at a hospital, clinic or therapeutic appointment on a regular basis.

Under the Parental Leave Act 1998 and the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006, a teacher is entitled to apply for Force Majeure Leave for a child who is being cared for on the basis of “in loco parentis”. Force Majeure leave is a statutory special leave with pay for urgent family reasons. A teacher is also entitled to make an application for Illness in Family Leave, which is a non-statutory special leave with pay provision. Please refer to for more information on both of these leave types.

as detailed at Chapter 11 of my Department’s Circular Letter 0054/2019 may be granted to a teacher in exceptional circumstances where the employer is satisfied that there is a compelling obligation involving absence from duty. The maximum amount of Unpaid Leave which may be taken by a teacher in one school year is 10 school days.

A teacher can also make an application for Unpaid Leave for Medical Care Purposes, which is regulated by the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, S.I. No. 341/2023 as amended. Unpaid Leave for Medical Care Purposes consists of one or more school days, but must not exceed a maximum of 5 school days in a consecutive 12 months. Please refer to for further information.

The recognition of leave for foster carers is a matter for Government as a whole, and is not within the remit of my Department.