Just one in five new dads are availing of their state paternity entitlements, new figures suggest.
Statistics from the Central Statistics Office reveal that while 63,000 births were registered last year, just 12,000 fathers took the two weeks' leave they are entitled to, according to
Breaking News.
Dads of newborns are able to apply for up to €235 a week in paternity benefit payments from the state under a scheme launched in September of last year, but the new figures suggest that over 80 per cent of new fathers are not availing of the leave.
Two weeks of paternity leave are available to parents who have given birth or who are adopting and both those who are working and those who are self-employed.
The leave can be taken up to 26 weeks after the child's birth or adoption.
As with new mums, however, employers are not obliged to pay wages or any benefit to new fathers during the two weeks of leave.
