Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2004
148 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when adoptive parents will have the same entitlements as biological parents in such areas as length of maternity leave and paid time off for adoptive assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18820/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Adoptive Leave Act 1995 was introduced to provide an entitlement to leave from employment similar to maternity leave for an adopting mother after the placement of a child into her care. The purpose of the Act was to redress the perceived anomaly that women who adopted children were excluded from existing maternity arrangements. The Act seeks to replicate all the relevant benefits of maternity leave for women whose motherhood arises from adoption and its provisions were modelled on existing arrangements for natural mothers. However, adoptive leave has always been shorter in duration than maternity leave to take into account the health and safety considerations which arise particularly in the last weeks of pregnancy. These considerations do not apply in the case of adoption. While maternity and adoptive leave may be analogous in many respects, it is important to differentiate between them on the basis of the biological factors applicable to natural motherhood, which are absent in the case of adoption. The 1995 Act provides an employed adopting mother or sole male adopter with 14 weeks' adoptive leave, attracting payment of Department of Social and Family Affairs benefit, commencing on the date of placement and an optional eight weeks unpaid additional adoptive leave, some or all of which may be taken prior to placement in the case of a foreign adoption.
The Adoptive Leave Bill 2004, which was passed by the Seanad on 15 June last, seeks to amend the 1995 Act in order to apply, where appropriate, to adoptive leave the recommendations made by the Working Group on the Review and Improvement of the Maternity Protection Legislation. The recommendation to increase the periods of adoptive leave from ten weeks to 14 weeks and unpaid additional adoptive leave from four weeks to eight weeks was implemented very shortly after the working group completed its deliberations.
In the interests of maintaining the parity of entitlements between adopting and natural mothers, the Adoptive Leave Bill incorporates a provision to further increase the adoptive leave period by two weeks to 16 weeks as approved by the Government last October. The increase in adoptive leave is linked to the proposed reduction in the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 of the compulsory pre-confinement period of maternity leave. Once the two Bills are enacted, both natural and adopting mothers will be able to avail of 16 weeks' leave, with payment of Department of Social and Family Affairs benefit, from the time a child is born or placed into their care.
The Bill also provides for a new entitlement for adopting parents to time off from work, without loss of pay, to attend the pre-adoption classes and interviews which they are obliged to attend within the State as part of the adoption process. This new provision parallels the provisions in the maternity protection legislation for paid time off work before the birth for pregnant women to attend antenatal care appointments. However, it also recognises that the adoption process differs from maternity in that it requires the full participation of both parents at each stage of preparation. This new entitlement will better facilitate prospective adopting parents in meeting their work commitments while also attending the required elements of the application and assessment process for adoption.
I am satisfied that the provisions of the Bill will offer improved employment protection and greater flexibility to employed adopting parents throughout the adoption process from the preparation stages through to placement and during the important initial period after a child is received into its new family.
