Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
624. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to restore the Parental Bereavement Leave (Amendment) Bill 2019 to the Dáil Order Paper; his plans to pursue the legislation as a Government Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36836/20]
View answerAccording to the CSO, in 2018 there were 268 deaths of children under the age of fifteen. The statistics also show that the majority of these child deaths, 187 (70%), occurred during the first year. The Department of Social Protection pays Maternity Benefit for stillborn babies born after 24 weeks of pregnancy or on the death of an infant during the period of maternity, which is 26 weeks.
Under existing social welfare schemes, there are provisions in place for continued payment of welfare schemes or allowances for up to six weeks following the death of a child. Similarly, Domiciliary Care Allowance will continue to be paid for three months in cases where the child being cared for has died.
Under the Supplementary Allowance scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. An application can be made for assistance with funeral and burial expenses where there is an inability to pay these costs, in part or in full, by the family of the deceased person without causing hardship.
An employee's entitlement to take time off in such circumstances depends on whether any provision exists in the employee’s contract of employment providing for such leave. For the vast majority of workers, conditions of employment, including bereavement leave provisions, are matters for negotiation between employers and employees. In the absence of any such provisions in an employment contract, bereavement leave is normally granted at the discretion of the employer.
The Bill mentioned by the Deputy was a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Minister Rabbitte prior to her entering office as Minister for Disability. The Bill is not included on the Government's legislative list but will be kept under review.
