Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's response contradicts what the CMO, the HSE and the Minister himself said that there were no health and safety reasons these restrictions should be in place. I know the Minister said he understands what women are going through but that these rules are in place to protect women. We need to stop treating women like children.

In a week where we are debating the vaccine certificate, it is beyond belief that when a woman is vaccinated, and when her partner is vaccinated, she would still have go through an emergency or a miscarriage on her own. That is unacceptable. The House is rising for the summer and I have a real fear this will not be sorted for women over the coming weeks or months and they will be left behind again. For some reason, when comes to women's healthcare, women are always left behind and must fight for every last piece of rights. We are last in the queue all the time. We are behind hairdressers, pubs and restaurants. It is not acceptable that women have to face miscarriages alone. All the women and their partners I have heard from over the past couple of weeks and months are all scared and terrified. Many of them have already gone through this process and cannot go through it again. I ask, therefore, that the Minister of State makes sure this is resolved before the recess.

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