Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a tax on pregnancy and it will cost many women €107 per week. These are not just women who continue to be paid during their pregnancy by their employers but also women who are no longer paid any salary during their pregnancy but will have to pay based on their salaries and those of their husbands during the year or remainder of the year. It is a severe hit. The Minister is treating them as being just like anybody else or as if they are not going through a special time in their lives. To take €107 per week out of €262 is a fair whack for women who are pregnant and will incur additional costs. The yield is modest. If the will was there, the Minister could reconsider.