Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I understand what she is trying to achieve. It is an awful time for any parent when he or she loses a child. Caring leave such as force majeureand parental leave is, again, the policy responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman. He is looking at the issue of bereavement leave, in particular for women who suffer miscarriages. I asked my officials to raise this matter with his Department in order that we may look at this within the wider context of a parent who loses a child.

As Deputy Kerrane will be aware, within the social welfare system there are a number of supports for people who suffer bereavement. If a person is in receipt of a primary social welfare payment which includes an increase for a qualified child and, tragically, that child dies, the qualified child payment will continue for six weeks after the child's death. In the case of carer's allowance, payment continues to be made for 12 weeks after the death of the person who was being cared for, including where this is a child. Domiciliary care allowance continues to be paid for three months after the death of the child being cared for. The working family payment and the back-to-work family dividend also remain in payment for up to six weeks after the death of a qualifying child.

In budget 2020, €60,000 was allocated to the Irish Hospice Foundation to carry out a research project on funeral poverty in Ireland together with the wider economic impact of bereavement. That project is expected to be completed in the near future. While I recognise and appreciate the intent behind this amendment and agree with what Deputy Kerrane says, I just cannot accept the specific amendment. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has already started some of this work. It relates to his Department. I support Deputy Kerrane in what she proposes. It is the right thing to do and we want to support parents who find themselves in these awful and tragic circumstances. My officials have raised this with their counterparts in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, about it. I know that in New Zealand they have passed legislation on miscarriages, but we should look at this as a broader picture. When somebody loses a child, what can we do to support him or her at that most awful time in his or her life? I will be in contact with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. I support what Deputy Kerrane says but I just cannot accept the amendment. We will work on this, however, and move it along.

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