Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
434. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the changes introduced to parent's benefit since 27 June 2020; and if she will detail the number of recipients, by county, benefitting from these changes, in tabular form. [31130/23]
View answerThe Government has committed to the continued support of working parents to achieve a better work-life balance. Parent’s Leave and Benefit falls into this category and encourages the sharing of parental responsibilities equally between couples.
The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced two weeks of paid Parent’s Leave for each parent of a child born or adopted after 1 November 2019.
In Budget 2021, Parent's Leave increased from 2 weeks to 5 weeks. Budget 2022 increased Parent's Leave further from 5 to 7 weeks from July 2022.
The rate of payment increased by €12 in Budget 2023.
Parent’s Benefit is paid at a weekly flat rate of €262 for seven weeks to employed and self-employed people who avail of parents leave and who satisfy certain pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution and other conditions. The rate of Parent’s Benefit is the same as the rates of Paternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit and Maternity benefit.
A total of 51,400 applications for Parent’s Benefit were awarded in 2021 compared to 16,700 in 2020. A total of 74,000 claims were awarded in 2022 representing an increase of over 140% on the previous year. Since the start of 2023,a further 35,000 applications have been awarded.
It should be noted that parents can make more than one application.
The number of parents who have availed of Parent’s Leave and Benefit, by county, from June 2020, is set out in tabular form below.
The counties with large populations tend to have the most claims, namely Dublin and Cork with some 37,437 and 18,934 applications awarded respectively since June 2020. My officials regularly review county statistics to look for emerging trends across all schemes administered by the Department.
It should be noted that while a claim for leave may be awarded in one month, the leave and benefit could be availed of at a different time, or over a period of months, as it is available to use one week at a time. It is also the case that parents can submit up to 7 separate applications for leave during their child’s first two years of life. The figures attached represent the number of individual parents who had claims awarded for the period requested.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
|
County |
1st June 2020 - 31st May 2023 |
|
Antrim |
28 |
|
Armagh |
102 |
|
Carlow |
1786 |
|
Cavan |
2696 |
|
Clare |
3375 |
|
Cork |
18934 |
|
Derry |
69 |
|
Donegal |
4488 |
|
Down |
278 |
|
Dublin |
37437 |
|
Fermanagh |
155 |
|
Galway |
8959 |
|
Kerry |
4489 |
|
Kildare |
7981 |
|
Kilkenny |
2983 |
|
Laois |
2367 |
|
Leitrim |
1160 |
|
Limerick |
5773 |
|
Longford |
1215 |
|
Louth |
3803 |
|
Mayo |
4337 |
|
Meath |
6866 |
|
Monaghan |
2375 |
|
Offaly |
2137 |
|
Roscommon |
2005 |
|
Sligo |
1973 |
|
Tipperary |
5027 |
|
Tyrone |
72 |
|
Waterford |
3739 |
|
Westmeath |
3078 |
|
Wexford |
4483 |
|
Wicklow |
4243 |
|
Total |
148413 |
