Ms Caroline Smith:

Martin and I thank the Cathaoirleach and committee members for the opportunity to participate in this discussion on such an important matter. Martin and I are parents to four children: three girls who live at home with us and one little boy who lives in our hearts and memories. Stephen was born in October 2015. He had passed away in utero the day before he was born. We know the impact that bereavement has on a family and the grief that walks beside that loss.

I am sure you are all aware of what bereavement is but please, if I may, let me just remind us all of what it means to be bereaved. Bereavement is the experience of losing someone important to us. Grief is the natural response to that loss and it involves emotional suffering when someone you love is taken away. Often, the pain of loss can feel overwhelming. People often experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness. There is no timeframe for when these emotions will appear. Often, they can be triggered by a sight or smell that ignites a memory.

The general belief in the laws of nature is that a parent will die before their child or children. Unfortunately, this is not always the way. To lose a child at any stage of their life is difficult and devastating. To lose a young child means losing hopes and dreams that were created, often from the moment that the pregnancy was confirmed. When a person is bereaved, they are not ill, they are grieving. They say time is a healer and things get easier as time goes by. Often this is true but with the additional pressure of returning to work employees are often forced to take sick leave to cope with their bereavement. This has been seen and heard by us through conversations with bereaved mums whose babies were stillborn. Even though they were entitled to statutory maternity leave, the return to work was overwhelming and the impact of the loss so great that they were signed off on sick leave. My husband was given two weeks leave after our son passed away in utero. This leave was at his employer’s own discretion as our baby was not classed as a stillborn. After the two weeks they contacted him again to see if he needed more time. Not all employers are as compassionate as this. Fathers are not entitled to bereavement leave when their baby dies. We have been told of fathers who have returned to work and who were called into meetings with their employers because their productivity was suffering and because they were not the person who was initially employed. Of course they are not the same person. A bereavement changes us all. In a time when the heart is breaking and emotions are raw compassion can be the kindest gesture but it should not be compassion that sees Bills like the Parental Bereavement Leave (Amendment) Bill come into action. It should be seen as a basic human right and a safeguard to protect employees should such devastation occur.

In conclusion, we welcome the Parental Bereavement Leave (Amendment) Bill 2021 but we would ask that changes are made to section 12A (3). We ask members to take into consideration that the date of an anniversary or a birthday of the baby or child be accounted for in the bereavement leave even though this may not fall within the ten days. Anniversaries and birthdays are often difficult for families and this can be a day where a visit to the graveyard or marking the day in a special way is important to parents. This should be reflected in the Bill.

Changes should also be made to section 12A (5) to reflect the fact that the date of death and the date of birth may differ for a baby who is stillborn and should also include the weight of the child. Currently the Civil Registration Act 2004 sets out the criteria for a stillbirth as 24 weeks or "500 grammes ... and shows no sign of life" at time of birth. I ask the members to note that the current criteria are also set to change to 23 weeks or 400 g and showing no signs of life at the time of birth.