Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 4/2021

Number 4 of 2021
FAMILY LEAVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT 2021
CONTENTS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
1. Short title and commencement
2. Definition
3. Repeal
PART 2
Amendment of Adoptive Leave Act 1995
4. Definition
5. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1995
6. Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1995
7. Miscellaneous amendments of Act of 1995
PART 3
Amendment of Parental Leave Act 1998
8. Amendment of section 6 of Parental Leave Act 1998
PART 4
Amendments of Social Welfare Acts
9. Definition
10. Amendment of section 58 of Act of 2005
11. Amendment of section 60 of Act of 2005
12. Amendment of section 61A of Act of 2005
13. Amendment of section 61B of Act of 2005
14. Amendment of section 61F of Act of 2005
15. Amendment of section 61G of Act of 2005
PART 5
Amendment of Child and Family Agency Act 2013
16. Definition
17. Amendment of section 19 of Act of 2013
18. Amendment of section 22 of Act of 2013
PART 6
Amendment of Workplace Relations Act 2015
19. Amendment of section 41 of Workplace Relations Act 2015
PART 7
Amendment of Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016
20. Definition
21. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 2016
22. Amendment of section 6 of Act of 2016
23. Amendment of section 7 of Act of 2016
PART 8
Amendment of Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019
24. Definition
25. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 2019
26. Amendment of section 5 of Act of 2019
27. Amendment of section 6 of Act of 2019
28. Amendment of section 7 of Act of 2019
29. Amendment of section 16 of Act of 2019
PART 9
Amendment of Judicial Council Act 2019 and Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003
30. Amendment of Judicial Council Act 2019
31. Amendment of section 20 of Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003
SCHEDULE
Miscellaneous amendments of Act of 1995
Acts Referred to
Adoption Act 2010 (No. 21)
Adoptive Leave Act 1995 (No. 2)
Child and Family Agency Act 2013 (No. 40)
Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (No. 9)
Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (No. 31)
Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (No. 24)
Judicial Council Act 2019 (No. 33)
Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 (No. 35)
Parental Leave Act 1998 (No. 30)
Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 (No. 11)
Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 (No. 46)
Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26)
Workplace Relations Act 2015 (No. 16)
Number 4 of 2021
FAMILY LEAVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT 2021
An Act to amend the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 to enable a couple who jointly adopt a child to choose which member of the couple is to be entitled to employment leave under that Act for the purpose of the adoption; to amend the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 to extend the period to which a relevant parent is entitled to leave from his or her employment under that Act and to extend the period in which such leave may be taken; for those purposes to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and certain other enactments; to amend the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 to increase the number of ordinary members of the Board of the Child and Family Agency to nine; to amend the Judicial Council Act 2019 and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 to make further provision in relation to the operation of personal injuries guidelines adopted by the Judicial Council; and to provide for related matters.
[27th March, 2021]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
		Short title and commencement
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021.
	(2) This Act, other than Parts 4 and 9 , shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.
	(3) Part 4 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Social Protection may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.
	(4) Part 9 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Justice may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions.
		Definition
2. In this Act, “Minister” means the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
		Repeal
3. Section 177 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 is repealed.
PART 2 Amendment of Adoptive Leave Act 1995
		Definition
4. In this Part, “Act of 1995” means the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 .
		Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1995
5. Section 2(1) of the Act of 1995 is amended—
	(a) by the insertion of the following definitions:
	“ ‘Act of 2010’ means the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 ;
	‘civil partner’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Act of 2010;
	‘cohabitant’ shall be construed in accordance with section 172(1) of the Act of 2010;
	‘cohabiting couple’ has the same meaning as it has in the Adoption Act 2010 ;
	‘couple’, in relation to the definition of ‘qualifying adopter’, means a married couple, a couple who are civil partners of each other or a cohabiting couple;
	‘qualifying adopter’ means—
	(a) where a child is placed, or is to be placed, in the care of a couple (of whom neither is the mother or father of the child), with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption, the member of the couple who is—
	(i) an employee, and
	(ii) chosen by the couple to be the qualifying adopter for the purposes of this Act,
	(b) in any other case, an employee, who is not a surviving parent in relation to the child, in whose care a child has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption;
	‘surviving parent’ means an employee in whose care a child has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption, where his or her spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, was the qualifying adopter in relation to the child and the qualifying adopter concerned has died;”,
	(b) in the definition of “adopting parent”, by the substitution of “qualifying adopter or surviving parent” for “employed adopting mother, adopting father or sole male adopter”, and
	(c) in the definition of “Minister”, by the substitution of “Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth;” for “Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;”.
		Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1995
6. Section 6 of the Act of 1995 is amended, other than as provided for by section 7 , by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):
	“(4) A person may not avail of adoptive leave (within the meaning of subsection (1)) under this Act where the person avails of paternity leave under the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 .”.
		Miscellaneous amendments of Act of 1995
7. The provisions of the Act of 1995 referred to in column (2) of the Schedule are amended in the manner referred to in column (3) of the Schedule opposite the reference in column (2) to the provision concerned.
PART 3 Amendment of Parental Leave Act 1998
		Amendment of section 6 of Parental Leave Act 1998
8. Section 6 (9) of the Parental Leave Act 1998 is amended by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “adopting parent”:
	“ ‘adopting parent’ means a qualifying adopter or a surviving parent within the meaning of the definitions of ‘qualifying adopter’ and ‘surviving parent’ in section 2(1) (as amended by section 5 of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 but as if, in both of those definitions, ‘or is to be placed’ were omitted in each place where it occurs;”.
PART 4 Amendments of Social Welfare Acts
		Definition
9. In this Part, “Act of 2005” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 .
		Amendment of section 58 of Act of 2005
10. Section 58 of the Act of 2005 is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1)—
	(i) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “adopting parent”:
	“ ‘adopting parent’ means—
	(a) a qualifying adopter, or
	(b) a surviving parent;”,
	and
	(ii) by the insertion of the following definitions:
	“ ‘qualifying adopter’—
	(a) in the case of an employed contributor, has the meaning given to it by section 2 (1) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 (as amended by section 5 of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021), or
	(b) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment means—
	(i) in the case of a child who is, or is to be, adopted jointly by a married couple, a couple who are civil partners of each other or a cohabiting couple, the member of the couple concerned, chosen by that couple to be the qualifying adopter for the purposes of this Act, and in whose care the child (of whom neither the qualifying adopter nor his or her spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, is the mother or father) has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption, or
	(ii) in any other case, a person who is not a surviving parent in whose care a child...