Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

This week marks Baby Loss Awareness Week, an opportunity for people to mark the personal tragedy of a pregnancy loss. Miscarriage in the later stages of pregnancy gives women the right to take maternity leave but those who lose a pregnancy earlier in the term have no right to paid time off work to recover. We in the Labour Party brought forward legislation to give women paid time off, up to 20 days, for early pregnancy loss and up to ten days for employees accessing reproductive healthcare treatments like IVF, leave for when it matters most and for more compassionate workplaces. We brought this Bill forward in the previous Dáil term. Many Government TDs and Senators voiced support for it. The Government did not oppose it but put a stay of 12 months on the Bill. In this new Dáil, given research has been undertaken in the meantime on the potential impact of the measures in our Bill, will the Taoiseach look into taking it further? We will be happy to work with the Taoiseach and the Government on this matter.

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