Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment, even though I oppose this section as a whole, because the amendment at least will capture those who are pregnant and planning their maternity leave and possibly their unpaid leave thereafter. People make those assumptions, and justifiably so, because when one pays tax or PSRI one has some expectation that there will not be a substantial change in one's lifetime. As we have seen recently, that does not stand up, particularly under this Government, because this is not the first change to maternity benefit. The first change was to tax it. Again, that had a negative effect on all those who were pregnant or planning at the time. The consequences of that affect women as we speak.

This amendment proposes that the cut to maternity benefit rates, which is what it is, will come into effect in January, so there is some logic behind Deputy Creighton's proposal. This cut will mean that the majority of maternity benefit recipients will see their weekly payment cut by €32. That is a substantial cut for anybody. I am surprised at the Minister, given the party to which she belongs and its history - perhaps not in respect of its history, because it has introduced some retrograde measures when it has been in Government before. However, it has never introduced a measure that goes as far as to target those who are pregnant or likely to become pregnant in the future.

As Deputy Creighton said, the Government will end up forcing some women back to work early.

That is contrary to everything that has been in the programme of work of this Government and its predecessors which aimed at encouraging women to breastfeed. If the Government is forcing women back to work, not every employer facilitates breastfeeding or child care arrangements which will allow the child to be nearby or the mother to leave the workplace on a frequent basis. I urge the Minister to reconsider this measure because it is a retrograde step. I am not the only person saying this. A number of organisations, as well as many Deputies in this Chamber, have come out against the cut. Women who are currently pregnant or will in the future become pregnant will be affected by it. One constituent wrote the following to me:

The recent cut to maternity benefit, following as it does closely behind the taxation of this benefit that came into play in July, can be interpreted in only one way. You don't want working women to have families. I have been in full time tax paying employment since I was 19 years old and I have now been working almost half my life. I am the only source of income in my family as my husband has been unable to find employment and we are not in receipt of any social welfare benefit...

Although the HSE publicly state that babies should be breast fed exclusively for six months, most women have to return to work somewhere around the baby's five month birthday. Maternity leave must be taken at 38 weeks at the latest and 37 to 42 weeks in a normal term. The HSE also encourages continued breast feeding to two years in line with WHO guidelines but there is no support in the legislation beyond six months. If you want healthy future taxpayers you must rethink your fiscal policies. Before the benefit was taxed some of us were maybe able to save a bit so we could avail of unpaid leave to extend the time at home with our babies.

These cuts will restrict that possibility and will force many women back to work when they should be spending time with their newborn children. This is a retrograde step for women in Irish society.

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