Under new proposals sanctioned by the Government all fathers will have paid time off from work to attend ante-natal classes, and mothers will be able to adjust their working hours while breast-feeding.
The recommendations are in a report to be published today, details of which have been seen by The Irish Times.
The report's main recommendation - an increase in paid maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks and unpaid maternity leave from four to eight weeks - will be implemented from next month.
A commitment to this measure was one of the concessions won by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in the review of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness last November. The extension of maternity leave will bring Ireland into line with most other EU states.
The Report of the Working Group on the Review and Improvement of Maternity Protection Legislation will be published today by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue.
The issue of paid paternity leave is side-stepped in the report, following strong resistance from employers' groups on cost grounds.
The report says fathers should be helped to be involved in pregnancy and childbirth, and recommends they be given paid time off from work to attend two ante-natal classes immediately before the birth.
The law should also be changed to allow mothers paid time off work to attend one complete set of ante-natal classes, it says. It recommends that consideration be given to having all public ante-natal classes free of charge.
The report recommends that employers allow breast-feeding employees either to adjust their working hours to meet their feeding arrangements or to have access to workplace breast-feeding facilities to express breast milk.
It is expected that all the report's recommendations will be implemented by the Government.