Figures released for the first three months of the Government’s new paternity scheme, which was introduced in September, show that only one in four Irish dads are taking the two weeks of paid leave available to them.
Despite an average of 16,000 births in Ireland from September 1st to November 31st, only 3,581 claims for paternity leave were approved by the Department of Social Protection; demonstrating that the majority of dads appear not to have availed of the option.
The low take-up has reinforced initial concerns that the government’s social welfare benefit of €230 per week is not enough to enable fathers to avail of paternal leave at a time when their partner is not working.
Ahead of the scheme’s introduction last September, employers groups warned that most small to medium sized businesses would not be in a financial position to top-up the State payment to the full weekly wage normally earned by workers. Benefits for new mums far outweigh their male counterparts – they can avail of 26 weeks leave with €230 per week and an additional 16 weeks unpaid leave.
Ireland’s paternity leave system lags behind most of our European counterparts in terms of both length and payment. The figures released show that uptake varied across the country, with Leitrim having the highest. However, dads from Roscommon and Kerry weren’t too keen on staying home with baby and the counties shared bottom place.
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