The government must review pay-related benefits to encourage more men to avail of their paternity leave entitlement, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party’s spokesperson on children, said:
“A report jointly published today the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) examines the uptake by parents of child-related leave benefits, and how this affects gender equality in the workplace.
“One of the key findings is that only half of new fathers in Ireland are availing of paternity benefit, with higher earning men more likely to take up their entitlement. This is leading to an imbalance between men and women when it comes to sharing childcare responsibilities.
“In Ireland, we don’t do enough to support parents. Despite improvements in recent years, we continue to lag behind other countries in terms of paid leave for parents and flexible work arrangements.
“The Social Democrats are committed to extending, and vastly improving, entitlement to paid leave for parents. We have proposed increasing paid parents’ leave by four weeks for each parent – to a total of 13 weeks each – which would ensure that the first 12 months of a child’s life can be covered by paid leave.
“In addition, we have called for an increase in the weekly rate to €350 for Maternity, Paternity, Adoptive and Parents’ Benefit.
“To address the structural inequalities that exist – both at home and in the workplace – the government must act on the findings of this report and review the rates of paid benefits for parents.”
April 4, 2025