Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Senators for bringing forward this Bill. I have already let them know of my support on this issue. When the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was here previously, I said that I would be supportive. I must disagree with Senator Mullen. I think there is a taboo around women's healthcare. The life of a woman is wonderfully diverse and changes much more than the life of a man and we do not recognise that in our workforce. We do not really take on board the fact that 50% of the workforce does have that variety and that different life course. This means that we must have legislation that reflects that. I have stood up here previously in respect of the menopause. I believe there are opportunities to ensure that people can take leave and do not have to call it sick leave either because it is not necessarily that one is being sick.

To go back to the issue, which Senator Mullen may have diverted us from, I know very few women who have not been through either problems with conceiving or have not had miscarriages and most people are silent on it. There is a culture where people are quiet for the first 12 to 14 weeks waiting to see how it goes. This is because we are all waiting to see whether this life we envisage and expect for ourselves follows through. This is because we know. We did not need any statistics to tell us it is one in five. It is probably closer to one in four. We do not need statistics to tell us it is the experience of women. The women with whom I speak do not tell their employers that they have suffered a miscarriage and they do not necessarily tell their doctors either. In some cases, it is incredibly painful and women are left to their own devices. I was thinking about force majeureleave and how the partner of a person going through miscarriage could be entitled to three days leave in certain circumstances but the person going through the physical experience of miscarriage is not entitled to leave so it does need to be dealt with. That is correct not in every case but certainly in some cases. The woman is using her entitlement to sick days and her partner may not be in certain circumstances.

I welcome the fact that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is considering carrying out research because there are a number of other issues we need to examine. Some Senators have spoken about the anomalies in this legislation, which I am sure are recognised, such as whether it is 24 or 28 weeks but one way or another, it must still be dealt with. India and New Zealand provide leave but just because they are the only countries that have it does not mean that it is the wrong thing for every country in the world. This is one situation where we do not have to wait to be called out but can step up to the mark and really give women the support they need. If one looks at the list of the type of leave, there are other circumstances. Deputy Costello raised the issue of leave for foster parents so this must be looked into. We need a sense of equality at the end of this. As has been outlined by Senator Ahearn, the Minister has addressed anomalies. We need to make sure we have legislation that does not have those anomalies because everyone needs to be treated fairly regardless of their family background or type and whether they are going through the pregnancy themselves or somebody else on their behalf.

I very much welcome the legislation. There is work to do on it and, therefore, t is important that we have that research but we are talking about these very personal and sensitive issues now. It is really important because we are public representatives and it is our job to talk about these things and bring them to light. I thank the Labour Party very much.