Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2020
209. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to address the position of women that are on maternity leave and provide an extension of maternity leave and benefit payments at this very difficult time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9892/20]
View answer210. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the mothers of newborn babies that are on maternity leave at this time will be supported; his views on the request to extend the maternity leave and benefit for them (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9921/20]
View answer211. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he is considering temporarily extending the period of paid maternity leave in view of the ongoing uncertainty regarding the availability of childcare and the other disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; if this will require amending primary legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10219/20]
View answer217. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if maternity leave and maternity benefit will be extended in view of the issues faced by new parents in relation to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the lockdown measures. [9858/20]
View answer227. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the extension of maternity benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10056/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 209 to 211, inclusive, 217 and 227 together.
As the law now stands, a mother is entitled to this leave irrespective of the duration of her current employment. The mother can take maternity leave from casual or part-time employment. She can take up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, and up to a further 16 weeks of unpaid leave. Two weeks must be taken before the baby is due, and at least four weeks must be taken after the birth. As Minister of State for Justice and Equality, the legislation that governs the provision of maternity leave is my responsibility and any such amendment would likely require primary legislation. The provision of maternity benefit is under the remit of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. These matters are currently being examined by Government.
As you will be aware, on 29 May the Minister for Finance announced changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme to accommodate the salaries of parents returning from maternity or adoptive leave. The changes are aimed at individuals who may not have been on the payroll of their employer on 29 February, or been paid in either January or February 2020 and will allow for consistent treatment with other employees.
The amendment will be legislated for later in the year as part of the usual Finance Bill 2020 process, but in the interim Revenue has agreed to provide a facility to accommodate such cases. Although expected to be implemented on the 12th June, Revenue launched a new process on Monday 8th June which allows employers to include employees returning to employment after a period of paternity, parental or related unpaid leave or were in receipt of Health and Safety Benefit, Parent’s Benefit or Illness Benefit paid by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). Employers who wish to access the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme on behalf of eligible employees covered by these changes can do so by completing a short form available for download via MyEnquiries in Revenue’s Online Service (ROS). The relevant details that employers will need to provide to Revenue include current contractual gross pay, pay frequency, normal PRSI class, type of leave the returning employee availed of and the date of return to work. Any retrospective subsidy payments due to impacted employees will be processed by Revenue in due course. This retrospection will apply from 26 March 2020, the date of return to employment or the date the employer was registered for the scheme, whichever is the latest
I am conscious of demands on parents at this time and hope that the additional measures to support working parents that I have introduced in recent years, including the new parent’s leave scheme and an extension of parental leave, are helping to ease some of these demands. In addition to maternity leave, each parent may also avail of two weeks of parent’s leave during the first year of a child’s life and may qualify for parent’s benefit during this period. Parental leave is also available which entitles parents to take unpaid leave from work to spend time looking after their children. Parents can take up to 22 weeks of parental leave for each eligible child before their 12th birthday.
