Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
925. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will consider introducing a statutory instrument to extend carer’s leave and allowance until the end of 2020 for certain cohorts of persons (details supplied). [15144/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 6 of the Carer's Leave Act 2001 provides that employees with at least one year's continuous service are entitled to take up to 104 weeks of carer's leave.
While there are no plans to amend the Carer's Leave Act, I am conscious of demands on parents at this time and hope that the additional measures to support working parents that my Department has introduced in recent years are helping to ease some of these demands. For example, from 1 September 2016, under the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act, fathers are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave and benefit. From 1 October 2017, the duration of maternity leave and benefit has been extended in cases where a baby is born prematurely. From 1 November 2019, under the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act, new parents are entitled to two weeks each of parent’s leave and benefit, to be taken within the first year of a child’s life. On 1 September 2019, under the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act, unpaid parental leave was increased from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.
