Paid Parent’s Leave launches extension today from seven to nine weeks
The Government has confirmed the extension of the Paid Parent’s Leave scheme, starting from today.
From now on, Parent’s Leave and Parent's Benefit will be including an additional two weeks. This extends the current scheme from seven weeks to nine weeks.
These new measures were initially revealed as part of Budget 2024 in October of last year.
From today (August 1), parents will be able to receive the additional two weeks of leave if their child is under the age of two, or if an adopted child has been placed with a family for less than two years.
A parent who receive Parent’s Benefit is paid at a rate of €274 per week. The payment can be claimed by those who are on Parent’s Leave from work, if they have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions.
The Government has also stated that Parent’s Leave is available to both employees and those who are self-employed.
It is important to note that employers do not have to pay any workers who are on Parent’s Leave. However, some may choose to 'top-up’ the Parent’s Benefit payments.
Speaking about the updated measures, the Minister for Children, Roderic O'Gorman, praised the scheme and noted that its statistics so far have proven it to be a great success.
"Mam's get the six months of maternity leave, plus the nine weeks, plus the 16 weeks of unpaid parental leave, and Dad’s get the two weeks of paternity leave, and the nine weeks paid parents leave, so it’s a significant growth over the life span of this Government,” he explained on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland.
Parents should note that Parent's Leave is different to Parental Leave, which allows parents to take unpaid time off from work to look after their children.
Since September 1, 2020, both parents are able to take up to 26 weeks of Parental Leave.