Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am passionate about improving breastfeeding supports in this country. I have been pleased to see that there has been an improvement in supports this year. That is very much due to the work of Bainne Beatha and Ciudiú, and is a result of this Government listening to women talk about the need to support those who want to breastfeed.

I must put on the record that I am appalled at the attitude within the Passport Office at the moment with regard to what it classifies as a medical emergency. To give some context, we know there are long delays for first-time passport applicants at the moment. I know a woman with a young baby whom she is breastfeeding. She is a Czech citizen but has residency here. She needs to travel to the Czech Republic on 5 December for urgent surgery and, of course, needs to bring her baby with her because she is breastfeeding that child. There are long delays in the Passport Office. I understand it can take up to eight weeks after a passport has been submitted for the Passport Office to begin to process that application. Because of that long delay, that Czech woman wants to withdraw her passport application but she has been told that she must wait for eight weeks. She cannot get her own passport back from the Passport Office. Not alone is she not able to travel at the start of December for her surgery, she cannot bring her baby either because she cannot get a passport for the child. We have asked about medical emergencies and been told that breastfeeding a baby does not qualify as a medical emergency. We must see a shift in the mindset within the Passport Office with regard to these exceptional cases. We must be seen to be promoting and supporting women who choose to breastfeed in this country.

I have listened to the arguments about the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and why it should not be reopened to applicants and why the cuts that were imposed last Tuesday were justified. It is worth reminding the House that the cut was imposed on the day restrictions were reimposed for certain elements of the night-time economy. There have been reports that the Department of Finance has stated that in order to get more construction workers off the PUP and into the sector, the payment needs to be cut. We must ask what dignity and respect we are affording to workers who are losing their jobs because of the restrictions. What are we saying to DJs, musicians and people who work as bouncers on the doors of nightclubs about their skills and livelihoods? We are telling them to go and get a job in a café. There is a real issue here. At the start of the pandemic, we did respect people's livelihoods and skills but that has gone over the past week, in particular. It sends a poor message to those in the arts and culture sector, and to those in the night-time economy, about our respect for their livelihoods.