Parental Leave
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

Will the Minister fill us in on the work under way in the Department? This is a huge issue, as she and everyone in this House knows, for many parents. Nine weeks' parent's leave is simply not good enough for those who have to look after a newborn, particularly in cases where a C-section was involved, which parents have contacted me about. Given the amount of work and care needed to ensure the health of the mother and child, nine weeks does not help the situation. What stage is the work in the Department at? Will the Minister look to a public consultation on this? I am sure she will get plenty of feedback from parents because that is what we have received in our office in the weeks and months since we started raising this issue. Will the Minister confirm her and the Government's thinking on increasing paternity leave to replicate other EU countries, which offer a far better scheme than is available in Ireland?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17