Working parents could get six months paid maternity leave in the first year after their child is born in addition to maternity benefit.
It is one of a number of proposals being considered by Government, along with paid paternity leave and an extension of the Early School Year.
International research shows that in the first year of a child's life, the best practice is to have a family member care for the child in their own home.
The move is expected to be opposed by employers.
Patricia Callan is from the Small Firms Association.
"For smaller companies it is a major cost for having people out of work for any period of time. If you only have four people and one of them disappears for six months, it is certainly a cost," said Ms Callan.
"But I think it's a cost you can work with so long as you have, for example, with parental leave legislation , you have a four month notice period, so if it's a particularly busy period you can counter-notice. Having flexibilities like that would ease the burden somewhat."