Plans to support fathers of new borns with two weeks paid paternity leave are expected to be approved by the Cabinet this week. Fathers will receive up to €230 per week which is on par with maternity benefit.

They will be allowed to take their two weeks directly after birth or up until the 26 weeks after birth.

The proposal which was originally announced in the Budget, was agreed upon following research carried out by an inter-departmental group, including Children's Minister James Reilly and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

The scheme is set to begin in September of this year with an estimated cost of €5 million to start. The projected figures for a year of the scheme are estimated to be around €20 million, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.

The scheme will bring Ireland's paternity leave up to European standards and aims to provide a year long paternity leave for fathers, as is the norm in Scandinavian countries, in order to reduce the cost of childcare and help women get back to work.

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