Seanad debates
Thursday, 11 December 2003
Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages.
I am delighted Senator Terry addressed the issue of justice, equality and law reform because creating a framework of support and protection for women and children is vital. We are working to that agenda with the introduction of parental leave, etc, but many more initiatives need to be taken. In coming years I hope to see the provision of some form of parental leave payment. We have brought in parental leave, which is welcome, but we now need to provide for some form of benefit. As with maternity benefit, we should provide for parental leave benefit and I hope our social welfare system will support that in time.
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