New Maternity Payment Rules to Benefit Migrants in Ireland

Monday, 30^th January 2017

Leo Varadkar, Minister for Social Protection introduced today a change to the maternity benefit rules.   The new measures permit a new mother to travel outside the EU for a period of up to 6 weeks, without losing her maternity benefit.

The changes apply to all new mothers who have paid into the PRSI system and will be of particular interest to women from outside the EU, who wish to visit their home country for a short visit after having their baby.

Mothers will continue to receive their Maternity Benefit and Adoptive benefit, while they are absent from the country for a period of up to 6 weeks, providing that their primary place of work is Ireland.

In introducing the new measures, Minister Varadkar stated that “I’m really pleased to bring in these new laws giving women more flexibility to travel while on maternity leave and to visit their families with their new baby.  In particular, this is a small but very significant change for the thousands of nurses in the Irish health service who come from outside the EU, but it does of course apply to all Irish and EU citizens who have paid into the PRSI system”.

The Regulation of these benefits also allows the standard two weeks of Paternity Benefit to be paid in similar circumstances.

For more information on the recent changes contact Marc Fitzgibbon, Partner in our Employment Law Group.