The Government has asked the European Commission to allow it to delay introducing a directive on parental leave. The directive had been due to come into effect from June 3rd, but a derogation would mean that it would not become law until early January.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue, and senior officials had been due to meet the Irish Congress of Trade Unions tomorrow to discuss the legislation. The meeting was cancelled at short notice last week, and no new date has yet been given to Congress.
The decision to seek a derogation is a breach of Partnership 2000. Under that agreement the Government gave a commitment to introduce the EU Directive on Parental Leave by the June 3rd deadline, and after consulting fully with the social partners.
Official sources have told The Irish Times that the derogation is being sought on the basis of the heavy legislative programme facing the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Under the EU Directive on Parental Leave, member-states have discretion to make parental leave available to those with children aged up to eight.
The Department is proposing to opt for a two-year age limit, the minimum allowed by the directive.
A spokesman for the Department said yesterday that no comment was available on whether a derogation had been sought, or whether the June 3rd deadline could still be met. Nor would he say if parental leave would be confined to parents with children under two years of age.
He did say that the Department was working hard to meet the targets set by the EU.
If the Government had not sought the six-month derogation, workers who found they were losing access to parental leave from June 3rd because of the Government's failure to meet the deadline in the directive could have taken legal action in the Irish courts or at the European Court of Justice.
The directive allows for voluntary agreement to be reached between the social partners on parental leave. So far the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation have failed to agree on a voluntary system.
Ideally, Congress wants paid parental leave, with employers contributing to the scheme. It also wants the State to make a social welfare contribution towards workers on parental leave, similar to that already available to women on maternity leave.
Ms Patricia O'Donovan, deputy general secretary of the ICTU, said Congress would be extremely disappointed if the Government had decided to delay the introduction of leave, or to limit it to parents of children under two.
"This would run counter, not just to the spirit of Partnership 2000, but to what the Minister and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, have been saying about creating greater equality of opportunity in the workplace.
"Last December, at the Luxembourg summit, Mr Ahern made a strong statement about the need to accommodate work and the family. He will just seem hypocritical on the issue if the Government decides to adopt this approach."
She also questioned the wisdom of transferring responsibility for legislation on workplace initiatives to Mr O'Donoghue's Department. "It is not up to speed on what is required to make laws that reflect the needs of workers."
The directive allows EU member-states to seek up to a year's delay in implementing the directive, "to take account of special difficulties of implementation by a collective agreement".