"The department's intention is to provide for an amending provision in suitable legislation as soon as possible, " a spokesperson told the Sunday Tribune.

Under the new Parental Leave Act, parents can take 14 weeks unpaid leave for each of their children up to eight years of age, as opposed to five years of age under the old act.

But under a last-minute amendment proposed by Fine Gael TD, Damien English and accepted by Frank Fahey, minister of state at the Department of Justice, it was agreed to allow parents working for the same employer to transfer the leave between each other.

This was a surprise move as the previous justice minister, John O'Donoghue, had specifically ruled out the transfer of the leave in the old legislation because it was always the father who transferred his leave to the mother. This ran counter to the act's main aim which was to encourage working fathers to become more involved in child-rearing.

But in an article to be published in a legal journal, Tony Kerr of the UCD School of Law pointed out that a drafting error in the legislation meant that English's amendment was contradicted in a previous section of the act.

Kerr adds in the article in the Employment Law Review that the courts will not be able to correct the error and that it will require amending legislation.

The Department of Justice has now confirmed that the "amendment was technically flawed". It was not possible to correct the problem with the text before enactment without creating further delay to the enactment of the bill" a spokesman said.

The new legislation was already over a year behind schedule.

The department added, however, that the flaw does not pose a difficulty "in principle", but did admit that it created confusion as to whether parents can transfer their leave entitlements.