Maternity leave in Ireland: 26 weeks paid, 16 more unpaid

Leave and Maternity Benefit are separate

Irish maternity leave is an employment right under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004. Maternity Benefit is a social welfare payment from the Department of Social Protection that depends on your PRSI record. You can have full leave entitlement and no Benefit, and the two have different application routes and different deadlines. Our Ireland maternity pay guide covers Maternity Benefit. This page is about the time off.

26 weeks, plus 16 more

As an employee you have the right to take 26 weeks' maternity leave, and the right to take up to 16 weeks' additional maternity leave immediately after it. This applies to full-time, casual and part-time employment, and Citizens Information is explicit that it does not matter how long you have been working for your employer. Additional maternity leave is unpaid and is not covered by Maternity Benefit, though you can get PRSI credits for it if you ask your employer to complete the credits application after you return.

Since 3 July 2023, these rights also apply to transgender men who are pregnant or have given birth and hold a gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2015.

The two weeks and the four weeks

You must take at least two weeks' maternity leave before your baby is due, and at least four weeks after the birth. Both are compulsory.

The two-week rule gives you a hard latest start date. You must start maternity leave at least two weeks before the end of the week your baby is due, where the week ends on Saturday night, which means the latest start is the Monday before the week of your due date. Citizens Information gives the worked example: if your due date is Wednesday 14 January 2026, the latest date to start is Monday 5 January 2026.

Notice: four weeks, in writing, twice

You must give your employer at least four weeks' written notice that you intend to take maternity leave, together with a medical certificate confirming the pregnancy. You must give a further four weeks' written notice if you want the 16 weeks of additional maternity leave, and you can give both notices at the same time.

You must also give at least four weeks' written notice that you intend to return to work. Citizens Information warns plainly that if you do not comply with the notice requirements, you may lose your rights. Put everything in writing and keep copies.

If your baby is born more than four weeks before the due date, you must tell your employer in writing within 14 days of the birth, and no other notice is needed. If a doctor certifies that you must start maternity leave earlier for medical reasons, leave starts on that date and no other notice is needed.

If your baby is born early

Premature birth does not cost you weeks in Ireland. If your baby is born before the date you were due to start maternity leave, you get 26 weeks' leave starting from the day your baby is born, plus extra leave equal to the number of weeks between the actual birth date and your planned start date. Maternity Benefit is payable for the whole of that extended period. In the official example, a baby born at 30 weeks to someone who had planned to start leave at 37 weeks produces 26 weeks plus a further seven.

Two newer rights to pause your leave

Since 20 November 2024, under the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024, you can postpone maternity leave for between five and 52 weeks if you become seriously ill and need ongoing treatment for a condition posing a serious risk to your life or health, physical or mental, certified by your doctor. You must give two weeks' notice and a medical certificate.

Separately, if your baby is hospitalised, you can ask to postpone maternity leave and return to work, provided you have already taken at least 14 weeks including four weeks after the birth. The postponement can last up to six months, your employer has the right to refuse, and the remaining leave must restart within seven days of discharge. You must also tell the Department of Social Protection so Maternity Benefit can be suspended and restarted. Leave can be postponed for a hospitalised child or for serious illness, but not for both.

Ordinary sickness is different

If you become ill during maternity leave for reasons other than a certified serious health condition, you cannot postpone the leave and take the rest later. Maternity leave must be taken in one continuous block.

What else you can take alongside it

Maternity leave is not the only leave Irish parents get, and the others are worth planning around the 42 weeks. Parent's leave gives each parent nine weeks during the first two years of a child's life, or within two years of an adoption placement, and it is paid through Parent's Benefit. Parental leave is a separate 26 weeks of unpaid leave per parent to look after a child under 12. There is also leave for medical care, five unpaid days to provide care or support for a serious medical reason. Stacking parent's leave onto the end of maternity leave is the usual way Irish families stretch the first year.

Time off for appointments

You can take as much paid time off as you need for medical visits connected with the pregnancy, including travel, on giving your employer a doctor's note and two weeks' notice of appointments. The same right continues for up to 14 weeks after the birth. You can also take paid time off for one set of antenatal classes, excluding the last three of the set.

What to do, and in what order

Get the medical certificate confirming your pregnancy. Work out your latest start date from the Monday rule and pick your actual date. Send both four-week notices in writing, ideally together. Apply for Maternity Benefit at least six weeks before you go on leave, or 12 weeks if you are self-employed. Then diarise the four-week notice of return, because it is a legal requirement and not a courtesy.