Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018
570. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of providing two weeks paid parental leave as recently proposed by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17627/18]
View answerThe Programme for Partnership Government commits the Government to increase paid parental leave in the first year of a child's life. An inter-departmental working group, chaired by the Department of Justice and Equality, has been established to examine options for delivering on this commitment. It is expected that the working group will report next month.
Paid parental leave including maternity benefit and paternity benefit are paid by my Department and are based on payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to paid maternity leave is 26 weeks and the current entitlement to paid paternity leave is 2 weeks. The 2018 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of approximately €264 million on maternity benefit and €16 million on paternity benefit.
The estimated cost of providing an additional 2 weeks of paid maternity leave is approximately €19.2 million and an additional 2 weeks of paid paternity leave is approximately €10.4 million. The total cost of providing an additional 2 weeks of paid parental leave for both parents is approximately €29.6m. These estimates are based on the cost for a full year and assume that any increase in duration is implemented from the beginning of the year.
This costing is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2018. It should also be noted that there are additional costs to the Exchequer as these estimates do not include the costs of salary top-ups for public/civil servants.
