16 February 2005
Dr. Henry: I second the amendment. It is important to try to ensure that parental leave is paid because those parents who most need to be able to deal with problems concerning their children will not be able to take leave under the current provision. Senator Terry raised the important issue of lone parents, which I also raised on Committee Stage. Lone parents depend either on one income or social welfare benefit. Two-income families and families with one parent permanently at home who can deal with problems as they arise are in a better position.
Since the Committee Stage debate, I have become concerned by the failure to increase the age thresholds for parental leave to sufficient levels. When one considers, for example, that 85 boys in Limerick have again been unable to secure a place in second level education, one realises that these kinds of important issues also crop up with regard to older children. The Minister of State, given his background, and the vast majority of Members are aware that the transition from primary to secondary school is a difficult time for children. In the circumstances I described, it would be preferable for fathers to deal with the schools into which they hope their sons will be accepted. The position is appalling and while I realise the Minister for Education and Science is trying to solve the problem, what does it say to the children in question about the value society places on them?
Recently, we heard a great deal of ill-informed comment about lone parent families from an electrical engineer and a journalist who relied on research from the United States of America, which has a completely different culture from Ireland. Considerable research, much of it commissioned by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, has been carried out here and is useful in terms of what the Department is trying to do and Senators are trying to support. I refer specifically to the report entitled, Contemporary Family Policy — A Comparative Review of Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK, by Mary Daly and Sara Clavero. The report was commissioned and funded by the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, under that Department’s families research programme, whose staff are acknowledged in the report. The review discusses the value of parental leave and provides support for everything the Government and Opposition are trying to do.
We need to examine the financial benefits available to parents. After all, they are raising children who will support society in the future. Measured in terms of cash supports to families, Ireland ranks higher than only Greece and Italy among the pre-enlargement European Union countries. That is not an enviable position for a country which boasts that it is the richest country in the EU. Senator Terry’s proposal is reasonable in this regard.
Once again, I urge the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to do more to publicise the excellent and plentiful research which it produces. It might prevent ill-informed comment if this research were afforded more public notice. Research on this issue could be conducted quite briskly with the help of the Department of Finance. This would allow us to see whether the Minister of State would be in a good position to present the feasibility of paid parental leave to the Minister for Finance.
The report to which I have referred puts the importance of the availability of parental leave above even that of child care for working parents. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform produces so many reports that it is sure to be able to produce one on this issue, containing the relevant figures, in a short space of time. On the basis of this report, the Minister of State can tell us either that a paid parental leave provision is impossible on grounds of cost or that such an approach is feasible and that he will communicate this finding to the Department of Finance.
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Dr. Henry: I second the amendment. I refer the Minister of State to pages 88 to 94 in Contemporary Family Policy in Ireland and Europe which clearly shows how parental leave can support the family especially in cases where both parents are working and find it difficult to take unpaid leave. As Senator Tuffy said, while having a splendid economy is one matter, it is more important to consider what it does for everyone and how we can support everyone to keep the economy going. Some 30 years ago, 8% of married women worked outside the home and that figure is now 37%, which represents a huge increase. Many of those women are mothers with children under 18 — children seem to be young forever, which I say on the basis of having raised some. We should do everything we possibly can to support these families for our benefit, as they are the citizens of the future.
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Dr. Henry: I second the amendment. Senator Tuffy has made a good point. Why is there a need to provide for a period of ten weeks? As a doctor, I approach issues of this kind by considering the problems faced by a parent who needs time off because of a child’s illness. It is pretty hard to say that a child will be sick from a certain date until another date and the employee will be able to return to work thereafter. This amendment will not detract from the Bill. As Senator Tuffy said, the acceptance of the amendment will not cost any money, as far as any of us can see. I hope the Minister of State will accept the amendment.
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Dr. Henry: I note Senator Jim Walsh’s point, but the Taoiseach is a socialist and said so himself. If he were here, I am sure he would support us in this matter.
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Dr. Henry: I am also fairly realistic. Most businesses that are well run will be flexible but those that are not so well run will not be as flexible as one would like them to be. It is well worth taking account of the amendment.
I have always contended that while this Bill concerns parental leave and looking after children, children are the responsibility of society as a whole and not just their parents. This is because our economy will proposer to the extent that they succeed. Our economy has prospered and we have done incredibly well over the past 30 years because of initiatives such as free education. Should we really make people pay for that? In referring to free education, I include free secondary education. Such initiatives have improved the country as a whole. What we seek is a small measure in that we all have an interest in the welfare of the children of the country, not just their parents.
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