A new law is being proposed in Ireland that would allow for both the father and mother to share maternity leave benefits. Currently, in Ireland, a mother can take 26 weeks paid time off after the birth of her baby, and an additional 16 weeks off without pay, fathers get only 2 weeks.
The bill was written by Fianna Fáil TD Fiona O'Loughlin who believes that the new law promotes "greater equality" and "allows parents to share child-rearing responsibilities."
The proposed legislation applies to parents who adopt and same-sex marriages. O’Loughlin says that no additional expenses would be created by the new law, "it simply allows parents to share paid maternity leave that is already in existence and will not affect the two shared weeks of maternity leave that already exist." says O’Loughlin.