Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the extended maternity leave campaign. I back the very sensible proposal made by my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, to refer the issue from this House to the Covid committee. It is a very important issue for thousands of families right across the country. Thousands of babies were born just before or during lockdown and maternity leave is running out for their parents. They are left in an awful situation where they cannot get childcare because the capacity in crèches has been drastically reduced due to social distancing, or because any private arrangements they would have made within their own families or in their communities have fallen through. Babies and mothers have also not had the appropriate check-ups or vaccines and they have not been able to socialise their children, which is very important for childhood development. We are calling for maternity benefit to be extended for three months. Many other exceptional measures were taken during the crisis to get people through it and this is an exceptional once-off measure that the women of Ireland need at this point.We need to give it to them to allow them to put alternative arrangements in place. The country may be in a different position in three months' time. These women need this measure for their own mental health and for the mental and physical health of their families. I would like this House to send a strong message that we support the women who have conducted this campaign. They need our support. I would really like a Minister to take hold of this issue and for it to come before the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. It would be a very good step forward if this House were to make such a recommendation. It would show the women behind the campaign, who stood outside Leinster House with their children today and whom I met along with the National Women's Council of Ireland, that we support them. They feel very vulnerable and desperate at this stage.