We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS given the green light to proposals for the introduction of paternity leave.
Two weeks of paid leave could be in place by September 2016 if the measures are approved.
A memo was brought to cabinet on the proposals today.
A statement from the Department of Justice detailed that the two weeks of paternity benefit will be provided as a social welfare payment. Private sector companies will not be obliged to pay full pay, but may do so as is the often the case with maternity leave.
Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald said the introduction of the benefit and leave “will have a positive effect on gender equality”.
Evidence shows that fathers want to spend time caring for and being with their children and families. Currently fathers use other existing leave arrangements to take time off around the birth of their child to support their families“.
“Ireland is one of the few European countries without such leave.”
Currently Japan and South Korea offer the most paternity leave, lasting a full year.
Women in Ireland are entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, with another 16 additional weeks unpaid.
Maternity benefit is paid at a rate of €230.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Amazing how hikes in fuel duty and carbon taxes can be brought in overnight but unpaid paternity leave takes until September!
It’s a carrot on a very long stick……there will be many carrots, all on very long sticks over the next few weeks.
No one will get to see those carrots again until 2021.
It’s bearing election time folks please don’t believe in any and I mean any of these false promises
They can being a tax in over night no problem but to give something back takes an age
Grand stuff can I get this back dated ….:)
It’s paid as a social welfare payment. This is the time parents need their wages.
What’s the story for babies born this year before September ? If the baby is born In let’s say July, come September can a new father take the two weeks paternity leave ? It is within 26 weeks of the birth afterall?
Probably not I’d say. It will only start in September.
It would be my luck if that was the case, hopefully common sense will prevail tho. Why it’s going to take as long as September to bring it in is beyond me.
Awww bollixxxx. I came too quick.
@john. You should see a doctor about that!
Fuking scandal. If it was a hike or two weeks to be taking off parents it’d be done Jan 1st.
Oh yea they can raise tax overnight but bringing in a benefit for dads is a drawn out process to avoid paying out! Happens to be in the election year!
Two weeks straight with the hubby. No couldn’t do it.
How about two weeksnfor the dad and kid to bond
Still doesn’t go far enough. Shared parental leave is needed
A new Dad is probably better off in work earning a full wage than staying at home for €230 a week if the job won’t make up the shortfall. Companies may review their maternity policies as a result of this as it does come at a cost to businesses.
Doubt if many men will be availing of the offer in either case.
Much better to be at work earning a few bob for the family. The mother in law will keep an eye on things at home.
Oran that made me lol. I’d say they will take full advantage during the golfing season!
Big green thumbs up Donna!
The start of equality – at long last…
All the figures seem to come from one report; I thought in Sweden that the father was entitled to 90 days of the 480 days leave, even though they only take 25% of this – not the 2 weeks taken from this report. Beat in mind that the civil service already has paternity leave (I think around 3 days), so it isn’t that big a deal in the politico’s bubble – but shocking that we had the lowest globally at joint 0 days!
Can you provide proof the civil service have it? all departments? ?
We don’t normally do proof on The Journal Donna but if you must, try the following link….
http.www.ihearditoffsomeblokeinthepub.ie
Ahhhh classic
What a load of bo#lox
All traveler based comments deleted again?
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say