1,000 Clare Dads avail of paternity

CLARE fathers are continuing to benefit from the Government’s paid paternity benefit scheme with more than a thousand availing of the scheme since its introduction in September 2016. That’s according to Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey who said that the current rate is €240 per week will increase to €245 per week from next March as a result of the recent budget. “This will ghve new fathers the opportunity to be more involved at the earliest stages of a child’s development, which is important for the whole family. “There has been good take up of the scheme so far, with 1,151 Clare fathers availing of the payment since its introduction. 607 availed of the scheme last year and so far this year, there have been 437 approvals granted. “I am encouraging prospective fathers to sign up for paternity benefit and I think they will find the application process to be clear and simple. They will require a Public Service Card in order to apply, and if they are an employee, they need to give four weeks’ notice to their employer to qualify for the accompanying paternity leave,” he explained. “Fathers who fulfill the PRSI requirements are eligible for paternity benefit when they take two weeks of paternity leave at any time within the first 26 weeks of their child’s life, or following adoption.”