I am not living in cloud cuckoo land

Regina doubles down on view that money is NOT the only reason men are shunning paid paternity leave

SOCIAL Protection Minister Regina Doherty has hit back at critics of her claim that money is not the only reason why men are shunning the State’s new paternity leave offer.

The claim led to a week of accusations that Ms Doherty was divorced from the tough fiscal realities faced by parents and businesses.

But, speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, the minister hit back, saying: ‘I am not living

‘In Sweden they had to make it mandatory’

in some form of cloud cuckoo land, divorced from the realities people face.’

She said: ‘I work in the Department of Social Protection. I think I understand as well as anyone else the difficulties people face when living on a low fixed income.’

Ms Doherty refuted claims that she failed to understand the financial pressures faced by new parents.

She said: ‘This is a hugely costly time. Women and men, when they are having children, are at the height of the mortgage payments, they are generally in their early 30s, facing into expensive childcare that is almost a second mortgage. I get all that.’

But the Minister also stood by her controversial claim that money is not the reason for the low paternity leave take-up among fathers.

Under the current scheme, Ms Doherty has committed to giving new mothers and fathers two paid weeks off from November, rising to seven weeks by 2021. The State will pay €245 a week to parents, which may be voluntarily topped up by private companies if the employee is on a higher salary.

However, a recent survey found almost two-thirds are not providing top-ups. Ms Doherty claimed last week there was a ‘narrative that the value of money associated with the scheme isn’t enough for men to take off work’.

But she added that ‘it doesn’t seem to have stopped women from taking maternity leave’.

Speaking to the MoS yesterday, she doubled down on her position, saying: ‘I cannot allow the narrative to go out that only reason that dads do not take paternity leave is because of financial reasons.’

Ms Doherty said; ‘For loads of people it is a factor, but is it the only reason? No, it is not.’

Ms Doherty claimed: ‘Studies in UCD and across the world reveal that money is not the only factor. In Ireland the level of take-up isn’t even close to 100%. Even in Sweden, where they pay 80% of the cost, they had to make it mandatory to take up paternity leave.’

The minister hastily added that she had no intention of imposing a mandatory scheme for Ireland.

Her remarks even incurred the ire of parenting website MummyPages.ie, which said the feedback they have had is that they are ‘downright insulting’.

But the Social Protection Minister said she had no intention of insulting new fathers: ‘I never said new fathers do not want to spend time with their babies. It is so heartening that so many more do want to spend much more time with their new-born children.’

But amid research showing 60% of men don’t take existing paternity benefits, Ms Doherty said: ‘Even though things are changing, we need a conversation about gender roles. Things are starting to soften but the concept that for child rearing taking time off from “real” work is a thing women do needs to be challenged.’

In a position that may not be shared by fellow ministers, she said: ‘I am delighted we are having this conversation. People are talking. This is a big cultural shift. I know it. I am at the coalface.’ Ms Doherty also responded to claims that many dads simply cannot afford to avail of the leave, but are desperate to spend time with their new or growing family.

She said: ‘I accept €245 a week is not easy to live on. It is the payment though that women get on maternity leave. It was the payment I got when I had kids 20 years ago. It is a struggle but there are loads of women who when we had our babies had to survive on that. What did we do? We planned and we saved, and we prepared.’

Ms Doherty said of the controversy: ‘The thing that annoys me most is that I am seen as being some sort of nanny not living in the real world trying to force people to do that which they do not want.

‘If you are a new father you do not have to take it, there is personal choice here.’

‘It annoys me that I’m seen as a sort of nanny’ ‘We need a conversation about gender roles’