Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming in and taking this motion. It is really good news that we are extending leave by two weeks and that it is accompanied by a paid statutory benefit. I have no doubt that everyone welcomes such good news.

There is a huge shortage of baby and toddler places in child care facilities where the staff-child ratio is particularly tight or intense. So the better it is, the longer that parents can be at home in a paid capacity with their children. This leave is particularly good. This legislation first came through the House when the Seanad had to sit in the Dáil Chamber at the height of Covid. I noted then that the description of parents who could be the beneficiary of this leave left it open so that surrogacy families could benefit from this leave. I have a memo here from the Department on the types of leave from which surrogacy families can benefit.

Yesterday evening, the Dáil completed its consideration of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill and the Bill is now moving into the Seanad. In a matter of weeks there will be an ability by families to ensure they have parental rights over their child, who will be born through surrogacy, from pretty much the birth of that child. Absolutely necessary to that is the provision of surrogacy leave. Some fantastic employers have already moved ahead of statutory bounds. My problem with the memo from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and I had hoped that the Minister from that Department would be here, is that no timeline has been set for when surrogacy leave will be delivered. The Minister of State's words, from the Minister's speech, were that these are "crucial formative years." There are "crucial" formative months for mothers, particularly a mother who has been unable to carry the pregnancy of her own child, who really need to be at home and financially supported by the State, if not the employer, if she is not lucky enough to work for one of the fantastic employers I mentioned.

The formative months are crucial times. In my instance, I literally got off a plane and went to work with my child strapped to me. I continued working for six months and all along. My child was in a wrap all of the time. I kept her close to me and I had to work because I had no other choice. I must state that I was self-employed so the scenario is a little different. I did work for an organisation at the time but there was no way of saying, "Actually I want to be here" so my only other alternative was to go to work. I was very fortunate to have an employer who was prepared to allow me to keep my baby with me all the time. There are other families who have already spent a fortune in trying to go through a surrogacy and then, returning here, they have to go back to work. It is a real deficit that they do not have a statutory entitlement to surrogacy leave that is akin to maternity leave and adoptive leave. It is the job of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide that. They are aware of this and know all about it.

I believed until a year and a half ago that this was about the Department of Social Protection because it was that Department that would pay for the leave until it became very clear that responsibility lay with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There has been loads of time to work on this provision. The Minister for Health and his team have been extraordinary in getting us to where we are. We are 95% there and only 5% remains to be dealt with in a Bill in September, which I believe should provide for surrogacy leave. I also believe that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth could add such provision, as an amendment. There will be a miscellaneous health provisions Bill that will deal with the last tidy up of the AHR and there is no reason for the Bill not to contain a statutory entitlement. There are lots of ways to make provision. It could be contemporaneous with the birth of the child, when we are providing for guardianship at the time of the birth of the child awaiting a parental order. There is no reason a bespoke solution cannot give statutory entitlement thus allowing for "crucial" bonding during the "crucial" formative months.

Again, I thank the Minister of State for the great news he has delivered but there is another piece of work that needs to be done.