The Department of Social Protection has introduced new regulations which will allow a new mother to continue to receive maternity benefit and adoptive benefit for up to six weeks while they are out of the country, so long as their primary place of work is Ireland. The regulation also allows the standard two weeks of paternity benefit to be paid in similar situations. This benefit is also being extended to Irish and EU citizens who travel outside of the EU for a maximum of six weeks.
Speaking of the new measures Minister for Social Protection Leo Vardadkar TD stated “I’m really pleased to bring in these new laws giving women more flexibility to travel while on maternity leave and to visit their families with their new baby. In particular, this is a small but very significant change for the thousands of nurses in the Irish health service who come from outside the EU, but it does of course apply to all women who have paid into the PRSI system. This includes Irish women who may also want to visit relatives outside the EU”.
Statement issued by Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar TD can be accessed here.
A copy of Statutory Instrument S.I. 12 of 2017 is available here.