Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome this legislation and commend the Minister on bringing it to this point. I hope we will get it through all the processes. It seems the Minister is determined to do so and that is welcome. This is a very important Bill to close all the gaps we have seen in legislation relating to maternity leave in recent years. The provision on illness is particularly important.

The impact this Bill will have for mothers, their children and their wider family will be enormous and invaluable. I was contacted recently by a constituent who had just given birth and had received a terminal diagnosis two weeks after giving birth. She spoke about that experience, the struggle of trying to navigate sick leave and the inability to postpone her maternity leave. She felt as if she had been robbed of those first six months. It is clear this legislation is needed and the impact it will have for many families cannot be underestimated. For this reason, I thank the Minister for bringing it through the Houses.

I will comment on the process, which I know can sometimes be difficult. We need to have a process in place and employers need to have certainty about that process and how it will work. Has the Minister looked at that process? An employee has to give two weeks' notice and then indicate when she will be back at work. Sometimes illness is not linear and it is very difficult to figure out when you will feel better and be in a position to return to work. Could some level of flexibility built into this?

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