Paternity leave is not recognised in employment law in Ireland. In other words, employers are not obliged to grant male employees special paternity leave (either paid or unpaid) following the birth of their child. Annual leave taken following the birth of a child is treated in employment law in the same way as leave taken at any other time of the year. It is at the discretion of the employer to decide who can and cannot take annual leave at a given time.
Some employers in Ireland, (for example,
the civil service), do provide a period of paid leave from work for male employees following the birth or adoption of their child. Fathers employed in the civil service are entitled to a period of special (paternal) leave of three days with pay in respect of children born on or after 1 January, 2000 or for children adopted after 1 January 2000.
The employee usually applies for this leave in writing before the birth or adoption. Arrangements where employers provide this type of leave following the birth or adoption of a child are the result of negotiation and agreement reached between the employer and employee. These arrangements are not covered by employment law so if an employer agrees to provide time off to an employee as paternal leave for a specified period (either with or without pay), it is entirely discretionary.
While male employees are not entitled under Irish law to either paid or unpaid paternity leave, they may be entitled to
parental leave. Parental leave entitles
both parents who qualify to take a period of up to 14 weeks' unpaid leave from employment in respect of children up to eight years of age.