Vol. 513 No. 1
603 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his views on the recommendation of the Commission of the Family that PRSI maternity benefit should be extended to cover parental leave at an estimated cost of £40 million per annum. [1380/00]
Entitlement to parental leave is provided for under the Parental Leave Act, 1998. This Act implements the provisions of EU Directive 96/34/EC, which in turn gives effect to a framework agreement on parental leave that was concluded at EU level by employer and trade union interests. The Parental Leave Act provides for 14 weeks unpaid leave for parents of children born on or after 3 June 1996. This leave, which is non-transferable between parents, can be taken as a continuous block or, by agreement between the employer and employee, as a number of broken periods, including reduced working hours. Employees retain their employment rights during the period of leave.
There is no requirement under the directive that parental leave be provided for on a paid basis. The social partners who negotiated the framework agreement left this issue for decision by individual member states. Paid parental leave could be provided for in a number of ways. For instance, it could be provided through the continuation of payment of wages by employers, through the introduction a social welfare parental leave benefit scheme, or through a combination of both of these methods.
The Commission on the Family was of the view that in order to provide practical assistance to those parents who wish to take time out of the workforce to care for their young children, parental leave should be paid. Accordingly, the commission recommended the introduction of a social insurance payment on the lines of maternity benefit for workers availing of parental leave, which it estimated at that time would cost in the region of £40 million per annum.
The cost of any possible parental leave benefit scheme would depend to a large extent on the level of take-up. International experience indicates that take-up levels are determined by a number of factors, including the levels of benefit available, flexibility of the leave arrangements, non-transferability of leave between parents and prevailing social attitudes.
Based on the current numbers at work and the level of births, it is estimated that the cost of introducing a parental leave benefit scheme on the lines of the maternity benefit scheme would be in the region of £56 million annually. There would also be additional Exchequer costs arising in relation to payroll costs of the many public servants who do not pay full PRSI.
In view of the fact that parental leave is provided for under a framework agreement negotiated at EU level between employer and trade union interests; there would be significant costs involved in providing a parental leave benefit, not alone for the Exchequer but also for employers in terms of having to hire replacement staff during periods of parental leave; the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has raised the question of a new paid parental leave scheme in the context of the current negotiations on a successor to Partnership 2000; and significant difficulties would arise in trying to tie in payment of a parental leave benefit with the parental leave period where leave is taken in the form of reduced hours worked or in days off, it is considered that progress on the question of introducing paid parental leave can be best achieved in the context of the national partnership discussions which are currently taking place.
