The Government's failure to introduce parental leave for working parents from June 3rd was condemned by IMPACT. The State has sought a six-month derogation from the EU for the implementation of the Parental Leave Directive.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has cited its heavy legislative workload as the reason for not meeting next month's deadline.
Moving an emergency motion, Ms Louise O'Donnell, of the tax officials' branch, said the Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, had promised in February to bring the heads of a Bill before the Oireachtas soon. As recently as three weeks ago, the Minister of State for his Department, Ms Mary Wallace, had said the Government was ready to go ahead, yet still there was no Bill.
She said it was still unclear if the leave would be paid or unpaid, or if the Bill would apply only to working parents with children under two years.
"The Government has known for the past two years what is required by the EU directive. Again, its attitude is indicative of the general apathy that exists to the family in the working environment."
The Labour Party spokeswoman on Equality and Law Reform, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, has also criticised the Government over the delay. She said if the Government could not provide an adequate explanation for seeking the derogation, the taxpayer could face compensation claims running into millions of pounds from working parents denied their rights.
The conference also passed motions calling for the introduction of paid paternity leave. Proposing one of the motions, Ms Ann Read, of the Dublin city branch of the local government division, said that unless paternity leave was paid, only higher-paid workers would avail of it.