Paid maternity and paternity leave will be extended by two weeks as of this Friday.

Beginning Friday, November 1, the government will offer two additional weeks paid leave for parents of children born or adopted. It will apply for parents who are employed or self-employed during the child's first year, and up to 60,000 new parents are believed to benefit from the scheme. According to the Irish Independent, the bill will be signed off by President Michael D Higgins in the coming days and will be in place by Friday, November 1. The leave granted under the scheme will be at the social welfare rate of €245 a week for both parents. It will also see the amount of paid leave available to new mums rise to 28 weeks, while new dads will have four weeks of paid leave available. Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan previously estimated [via The Irish Times] almost 25,000 new fathers have availed of the paid paternity leave benefit scheme since its introduction in 2016. He said that he hoped all new parents would avail of the extra two weeks paid leave "in terms of the child building a relationship and a bond with both parents." This comes after the government announced the extension of unpaid parental leave from 18 weeks to 22 weeks and an additional two weeks from September next year. At the time, Minister Stanton said: "The Government will continue to support parents by providing greater flexibility in achieving and managing a work life balance."