§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate he has made of the number of employees of(a) small and medium enterprises and (b) larger companies who will opt to take paternity leave each year; [76670]
(2) what estimate he has made for (a) small and medium enterprises and (b) larger companies of the number of man hours that will be spent each year administering the new paternity leave directive; [76671]
571W(3) if he will estimate the average annual cost to (a) a small or medium enterprise and (b) a larger company of employing and training additional staff to cover for employees on paternity leave. [76791]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 16 March 1999]: We shall be consulting on the detailed implementation. Only when this has been completed can a realistic estimate be made of the Parental Leave Directive.