The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on the Government to extend the scope of the new Parental Leave Act in order to comply with EU law. The changes would double the number of parents eligible, in the short term, for parental leave.
This follows a ruling by the European Commissioner for Social Affairs, Mr Padraig Flynn, that the Government is in breach of the EU Parental Leave Directive by attempting to limit the right to the parents of children born on or after June 3rd, 1996. ICTU lodged an objection to the legislation last December, and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue, has notified congress that its complaint has been upheld.
A spokesman for Mr O'Donoghue said yesterday the Minister was examining the situation and had sought legal advice. He has two months to respond.
In a letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, on March 11th, Mr Flynn said the Government was in breach of the directive. It "does not contain any provision permitting member-states to set a date by which children, in respect of whom parental leave is exercised, must be born".
Yesterday ICTU's equality officer, Ms Joan Carmichael, wrote to Mr O'Donoghue, seeking an early meeting to discuss the situation. "The Minister should bring the necessary amendment to the Parental Act immediately and not put qualified working parents through a long-drawn-out legal process", she said.
"The legislation must be amended now to ensure that all Irish working parents who have a right to parental leave under the terms of the Directive can avail of that right before their child is older than the maximum age of five."
Congress has also been critical of the Government's decision not to take advantage of provisions in the EU directive to grant leave to parents of all children of the correct age, or to make social welfare provision for parents opting to take leave.
The Irish Business and Employers' Confederation has warned ICTU that if it seeks an amendment to the Act over the date of implementation, the confederation will challenge the force ma- jeure provisions in the legislation.