Paid parental leave is to be extended from two to five weeks and back dated for over a year from the start of next month.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman is bringing a memo to Cabinet extending the €245 a week benefit and he hopes the changes to law will be in place from April 1.

This means anyone who has had a child since November 2019 will be able to apply for five weeks of leave under the scheme which will be in place in the coming weeks.

Gary Gannon is Social Democrat TD for Dublin Central, and spokesperson for Education, Arts and Social Protection, and Louise Bayliss is the cofounder and spokesperson of SPARK (Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids).  The discussed with Kieran on The Hard Shoulder.