Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this legislation and I thank the Deputies for bringing it forward. I genuinely think there is something a bit cynical about the 12-month delay. This is a piece of legislation that has been knocking around for a while. The work that the Minister of State has talked about could have been done. What he is doing is making very clear that if it happens, it certainly will not be because of this Government, because it is being put past the end of the time that this Government could possibly run for. The Minister of State is saying very clearly that either the Government does not want to do it but does not want to admit that, or it wants to do it but for some reason it just cannot. I think it is a bit cynical. While it might be very necessary in some instances to put that 12-month delay in place, and I have seen it used to good effect, sometimes the perception is that it is being done just to kick the can down the road so as to not engage with an issue, or because the Government does not want to be caught on the wrong side of a debate but also does not want to take any action. I encourage the Minister of State to reflect on that.

I fundamentally disagree with the Minister of State regarding the Organisation of Working Time Act, which I believe is the place for this. My legislation on access to paid leave for victims and survivors of domestic abuse was an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act and I acknowledge the Government went forward with the work-life balance Bill. We need to situate rights like this in workers’ rights legislation, which is the appropriate place for them. While I accept we may never agree on that, I genuinely believe it. When we talk to people working in the area of workers’ rights, they will say that they believe the Organisation of Working Time Act is the appropriate place.

Sinn Féin supports the principles of this Bill. We supported it in the Seanad, where we were heartened to see that it was not opposed by the Government, although we now see that, if it is not being opposed, it is effectively being obstructed. It will not happen because it will go beyond the lifetime of this Government so, effectively, the Government is saying that it is not going to do it. It should be honest about that. There is a 12-month delay mechanism when it could be a six-month or three-month process. It is not being done and is being put very firmly beyond the lifetime of this Government, so it is not something the Government is going to do.

The Bill is fairly straightforward. It amends the Organisation of Working Time Act to provide for a statutory entitlement to paid leave as a consequence of early pregnancy loss or for the purpose of availing of reproductive healthcare. It extends the protection against unfair dismissals conferred by the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2015, to cover workers for each leave in such instances.

While the Bill may be straightforward, it nonetheless seeks to deliver a significant and important change. There is currently an absence in statutory leave laws and workplace protection laws for women who suffer the grief of an early miscarriage. There are also no provisions in Irish law for leave for any woman or man who needs to take time off work to access IVF and the procedures around that, or other fertility treatments. This is the core of what this legislation seeks to address.

Undoubtedly, there will be those inside and outside the Oireachtas who will raise concerns over the number of days of paid leave the legislation seeks to provide and the impact it will have on employers. However, the right place to have this discussion is at the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment during pre-legislative scrutiny hearings, where all sides can contribute constructively and collaboratively and work towards achieving this goal.

As it stands, women in Ireland have to take annual leave, sick leave or unpaid days in order to attend appointments or to recover physically and emotionally from an early miscarriage. It is important to say that when a woman has had a miscarriage, she might not be physically sick and it is dishonest to produce a sick certificate where someone is not physically sick. However, that does not necessarily mean women are able to go to work. They may not have a physical ailment or be required to even attend the hospital, but that does not mean they are able and fit to go to work.

We had this debate regarding the provision of maternity leave for TDs and Senators. I have spoken to people who had to do this not just in this scenario but in others. Having to submit a sick certificate to avail of time off when someone is not actually sick is dishonest. It is not dishonest on the part of the person doing it because the person doing it has no choice, but if someone is not sick, he or she should not have to submit a sick certificate. Neither, by the way, should he or she have to exhaust his or her sick leave for something that is not sick leave. This is a very particular situation and one would hope it is something people either do not experience or is a unique experience for them. In some cases, people will have to go to hospital and will have a medical certificate, but in many cases, they will not. They are grieving, they are confused and they are sore, but they are not sore in a physical way and they are not sick enough to get a medical certificate, so to have to obtain one to take time off work is dishonest. Women do not want to have to do that.

It is estimated that 14,000 women in Ireland experience miscarriage each year, which is between 20% and 25% of all pregnancies. Specific information in terms of earlier losses is difficult to obtain as women who suffer an earlier miscarriage often do not interact with healthcare services, although they are grieving all the same. It does not matter if it happens at six weeks, eight weeks or 20 weeks; the grief is still the same when it happens. Miscarriage is a very traumatic experience and the current lack of legally protected time off to recover after an early miscarriage makes things much more difficult for women. It is a very traumatic experience. They do not want to have to tell the whole world about their business. They want to be able to access their legal and lawful entitlement to time off without having to enter into a grace and favour arrangement with a manager or to go and obtain a medical certificate when they might not be physically sick. They want to be able to take the time they need to be with their partner, husband, wife or whoever that person is, or their family or community, to build themselves back up. In addition, it is good for employers. Women get the chance to recover properly and then come back and give 100% to their work. There is no downside that I can see to this.

Research has shown that the trauma due to miscarriage can affect parents for years following the loss experience, and this can manifest itself in depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Again, that is compounded by the secrecy and the clandestine nature of the situation. It is compounded by the fact that they might have to tell everyone in work what they have just been through, and they might not want to tell the whole world. They might have to go to a doctor to get a medical certificate when they are not physically ill. That stays with them for a very long time, believe me. It is in this context the legislation needs to be viewed. Anything the Oireachtas can do to help women in such circumstances should be pursued.

Infertility affects men and women. Approximately one in six heterosexual couples in Ireland will need assistance getting pregnant. In addition, same-sex couples or single people also often need to access fertility treatment. Fertility care encompasses the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, and it can often be complex, time-consuming and expensive, requiring numerous assessments, check-ups and procedures. The legislation provides for leave to access fertility treatment so people are afforded time, dignity and empathy as they go through their fertility journey. At the heart of the Bill is a demand for flexibility and the right to be accommodated when going through an early miscarriage or fertility treatment. This is an important and noble aim.

I would like to make reference to the current public supports for fertility treatments. Last summer, Ireland began providing publicly funded IVF treatment for the first time. It was long overdue and was a welcome first step. However, there are concerns regarding the limitations being placed on the availability of treatment, in particular the provision for only one publicly funded cycle, which is unfair as it limits access to couples with no children. This scheme needs to be built on and it needs to be made more inclusive. It is also important that capacity is built into the public system to ensure speedy access to treatment. As it stands, that is not the case.

It is true that there is a lot of work to be done to make our workplaces more accommodating for everybody who is at work and more family-friendly. We talk a lot about family-friendly workplaces and I know the Ceann Comhairle has done a lot of work in this area, for which I commend him. However, we cannot keep coming in here and talking about family-friendly workplaces and inclusive workplaces, and about how much we value the contribution made by women in the workplace, and then, when it comes to something fairly basic, such as the entitlement to paid time off or the entitlement to be honest and not be forced to be dishonest in obtaining a medical certificate, it seems it is never the right or appropriate time.

Before I conclude, I note there are not many Members in the House this evening. I do not think that is because there is no interest in this subject. I genuinely believe it is weather-related and that Members want to get on the road because they are anxious about the weather. I would not want anyone to think there is a lack of interest in this issue. It is a very live issue and one that people are very engaged in. It is one we hear about and deal with in our constituency clinics all of the time. I encourage the Minister of State to reflect on what the delay of 12 months actually means because it means putting it beyond the lifetime of this Government.

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