Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I urgently call on the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to account for her tenure and her presiding over the cuts to maternity benefit to Irish women. As I have said numerous times, we have a very unbalanced four-man committee running the country. I would like to ask the Minister to account for herself. One week before the budget the expert group on the future of child care strategy recommended that maternity benefit should be extended from six to 12 months. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, said she would do all in her power to get this implemented. However, she has presided over cuts to maternity benefits to Irish women. Did Irish women cause this economic crisis?