Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is straightforward. We would not be debating it if we had a majority of women in charge of this country. It is mad that we have to debate these things. This is a straightforward thing that we need.

One in four women have a miscarriage. That means a good proportion of the women here, because we are 40% female, have had miscarriages. Many of my friends and family have experienced it. It is traumatic. They have to go into the maternity hospital where everyone around them is having babies. There are loads of issues with this. The least we should be doing is passing this Bill. It is 2022. We do not have time to be debating this. We just have to get this done now.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy English, are doing great work and research so that we do it right. That is also good.Both IVF and miscarriage are traumatic. Women need time. If we give this recognition, employers will have to give it recognition and there will be less of a stigma. For years people did not even talk about the fact they had had a miscarriage or that they were using IVF. That is completely mental. In this day and age we should not be suppressed in any way. We know how oppressed we are and our voices are for many reasons and in lots of ways, and we do not call out things. However, we should not be hiding behind this. This Bill will really support us to not be embarrassed about this kind of stuff. I would really appreciate it if Senator Mullen would keep his rosaries off our ovaries, for once and for all.