Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have all bases covered.

This has been a long road with regard to this legislation. The Labour Party introduced it in the Seanad in May 2021. We had Committee Stage in January 2022 and I am most grateful, particularly to the Leader of the House, Senator Chambers, and her office for giving Government time to this Bill this evening.

We know from listening to the many stories of women who have had the trauma of experiencing miscarriage or going through the tortuous journey of fertility treatment that not only is this a health issue, but it is also very much a workplace issue. From the many harrowing stories we have received almost weekly about people’s experiences, it is blatantly obvious that there need to be compassionate and flexible work arrangements for those experiencing early miscarriage or going through fertility treatment. There needs to be a statutory right to a protected workplace leave.

I thank the INTO, whose survey in 2019 and campaigning on this was the genesis for this Bill. Time and again, we have to remind ourselves that, while there are workers fortunate enough to have the flexibility in their work lives to take time off at short notice or have flexible work hours, there are many others - particularly teachers, health professionals, those who work in retail or in any other customer-facing role and anybody on fixed hours - who cannot drop tools at the last moment because of personal health circumstances.The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is going to respond. I thank the former Minister of State, Deputy English, for his support for this Bill initially. I have no doubt the current Minister of State will support it also. Since the beginning of Committee Stage, a number of things have happened. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in particular, has shown an interest in our Bill. He commissioned research from the pregnancy loss research working group in UCC, under the stewardship of Professor Keelin O'Donoghue. That research has been produced and is with the Government. We very much urge the Government to publish it as soon as possible. Contained in the report will be a very powerful argument as to why we need the proposed leave, particularly for those experiencing early miscarriage. We should bear in mind that anybody who experiences pregnancy loss up to 24 weeks has no statutory entitlement to leave. After 24 weeks, she has an entitlement to maternity leave, but prior to that she does not.

We have heard some very harrowing cases of women who lose babies at 20 weeks and are told they must turn up for work the next day or take sick leave or annual leave. Women continually tell us they are not sick when they suffer a miscarriage, and couples are not sick when they go through fertility treatment. We have to recognise the particular nature of infertility treatment and early miscarriage.

I want to touch on the other major development since Committee Stage began in January 2022, namely the introduction of public supports for IVF. We very much welcome that. We have been a long time waiting. I have spoken about it in this Chamber. I remember vividly the commitments made in 2016 to introduce the supports. It has taken us until September 2023 to introduce them for couples and those going on the experience alone who cannot afford what is a very expensive treatment. We have our issues with the scheme and there are shortcomings regarding its criteria and how it is being rolled out, but we support it nonetheless.

To my mind and that of the Labour Party, there is a glaring shortcoming to be considered. Every person who meets the criteria should be able to access the publicly available IVF scheme but the reality is that not everybody will be able to do so equally. If I have a job with flexibility and can start work three hours later than usual, or if I work close to Dublin and can disappear on my lunch break to have a scan or whatever it might be, I am in a very different set of shoes than the teacher, nurse or shop worker who simply cannot start work three hours later than usual or take an extended lunch break. The reality is that fertility treatment is not a once-off procedure. You cannot choose the day; your body decides when it can happen. You have to go through a series of stages with regard to follicle tracking, egg collection and transfer. We need that recognised in the workplace. While I believe there is willingness on the part of the Government to move on early miscarriage, we have not heard anything positive so far, notwithstanding that there is cross-party support for our Bill in the Chamber and, I have no doubt, on the part of the Minister. However, I urge the Government to consider seriously my proposal in this regard. Within the Bill, there is provision for ten days' leave for those going through fertility treatment. We believe it is a vital complement to ensure equal access for all who want to undertake publicly funded fertility treatment.

I pay tribute to all who have completed our survey and come to us with their stories. It is not easy as it is a deeply private matter. In particular, I thank the INTO, which has been after me wondering what is happening with this Bill. I know we will be saying that when it goes into the Dáil, but the thing is-----