Fianna Fáil is calling for paid maternity leave to be extended to a full year by 2019.
The party has published a document calling for greater standards in childcare, more supports for parents, and provisions to make the service more affordable.
"One of the suggestions that we have made is that they should look at extending the paid maternity leave to 52 weeks on an incremental basis over the next number of years," said Children's Spokesperson Robert Troy.
"What we want the Government to do is commit to a cost analysis to look exactly at what the costs are, and to look at what it would cost to introduce measures such as tax relief, [or] maybe introduce a payment similar to family income supplement," Troy said of the party's wider plans.
The party said Frances Fitzgerald, the Minister for Children, should seek an increase in her department's finances and not agree to any cutbacks in the Budget.
Troy said the government had already committed to a "Scandinavian model" where the department's budget would be a percentage of GDP.
"We all are fully aware that we can't achieve 0.7% of GDP [in the children's budget] any time soon," he said, "but what we need to see is that incrementally increased, year-on-year."