Irish family leave lags behind rest of EU

Ireland compares poorly with the rest of Europe on maternity leave, paternity leave and work/life balance policies, an international family leave expert has said.

Prof Peter Moss from the University of London said: “Ireland is the only EU member state with no period of well-paid leave; its whole policy assumes women are still primarily responsible for the care of young children.”

In particular, Ireland has no paternity leave. Most other European countries offer two weeks’ paid paternity leave at the time of the birth of a child.