As part of Budget 2019, I was pleased to announce that 2 weeks of paid parental benefit will be provided to both parents from late 2019 for the first year of a child’s life. This is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to prioritise additional paid parental leave in the first year.
The projected cost of 2 weeks' paid leave for both parents is €32m in a full year. The following is the estimate of the costs and volume of recipients for 2019, 2020 and on a full year basis.
|
2019
|
2020
|
Full Year
|
Parental Benefit scheme estimates
|
€1.5m
|
€22m
|
€32m
|
Estimated number of recipients
|
2,700
|
41,000
|
60,000
|
It should be noted that there will be associated public service pay costs involved covering substitution costs for front line staff primarily in the Health and Education sectors.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.