Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to take this matter. If he does not mind, I will refer to two separate matters. The first is the story in this morning’s newspaper to the effect that delays with funerals are feared as Waterford Hospital is to end coroner-requested autopsies. The article in question refers to a global shortage of pathologists, which means there will be further delays.

I tabled this matter on the basis of my own experience. The matter revolves around the number of leave days available to a person who is bereaved. If we take the civil and public service as having the best bereavement leave entitlement, we find that a person is entitled to five days leave on the loss of a mother or father. I had that experience recently when my mam died. She died on a Wednesday. She was not cremated until the following Wednesday, which, to put it in bald terms, would have put anyone with only five days' bereavement leave in a situation whereby they would have to go back to work. If you take the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, that is three days. If you take the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week, that is six days in total. Even if you get one force majeure day and you take five, it is quite possible to find yourself in a situation where you do not have enough leave. This is not about me. It only came to my attention because it happened to me. It was something I had not thought about at all. You might not be able to go back to work, but you might be someone who has to do so. If you are lucky - and lucky is the word - you get five days' leave.

This is not a plea for additional leave days, because I do not think that is the solution. Culturally in this country, there is a short time between the death and the cremation or burial. As a result, there will be a particular impact if the delays to which I referred occur. I was thinking about it and talking to members of my family. I could not have gone back to work; it would just not have been possible. I am very lucky, however. I have Marian and Freya in my office. They and all of my colleagues together made sure the work was done. I am very lucky, but there are an awful lot of people who are not.

Imagine you are working as a nurse. I am sure that when you go onto the ward, your colleagues are of course going to be lovely to you, mind you and all of that, but you might not have a choice. You might not have any annual leave left. This is to bring attention to the impact of these possible delays. It is not a plea for more leave, because I do not think that is the issue. There is a cultural expectation. When you talk to people from other places they say "Gosh, it is very fast". Culturally, however, that is how it is done in this State. It really shocked me when I realised that even had I taken one day of force majeure leave and five bereavement leave days, I would have had to returned to work the day after my mam’s funeral. I physically would not have been able to do so. Had I not had the leave, however, I would have had to return. Coming up to Christmas, people might keep leave because they have to have it for the festive period. In some employments, the boss will tell their employees that they have to keep some leave days to cover that period. Someone may find themselves in a situation where they simply do not have the leave.

I tabled this matter to spark a discussion. I do not expect the Minister of State will have the answers this morning, but I had resolved, when I was able, to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil. I spoke to a number of people, including the funeral directors. We had that conversation, so I am making good on a commitment that was given.

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