Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus fáilte isteach roimh an Aire. I am very pleased to be speaking about this important Bill in the Seanad. I thank my party colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, for bringing forward this important legislation, which will allow for mothers who have had a difficult diagnosis of a serious illness to pause their maternity leave and introduce long overdue maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas.

Maternity leave is such an important and precious time for new mothers and their babies. It is completely unacceptable that currently a woman who has just given birth and has recently been diagnosed with a serious physical or mental health condition should have to use this time for treatment and recovery. This legislation will change that and allow a new mother to pause her maternity leave while she receives treatment and recovers from her illness. She can then begin her maternity leave when she is, hopefully, fully recovered and enjoy that important time with her baby to the full.

The Bill also introduces for the first time a long overdue entitlement to maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas. I firmly believe that the only way we will improve the number of women in the Oireachtas is by making both Houses places where equality for all Members is realised. We have to ensure that having a family is in no way a barrier to pursuing a career in public life. This vital equality measure will signal to women considering a life in politics that they are valued and welcome. If both these Bills had been brought forward much sooner, we would have had more women in politics.

Luckily, we have a good man in politics who recognises the value of women and motherhood. The Minister introduced the baby boost, which will come in for new parents in January, and reductions in the cost of childcare. It is great to have a man who is willing to recognise the value of women. If there were more men like him in politics, it would not be so urgent to increase the representation of women, who are not represented properly. Women account for 23% of Members of the Dáil. This is 2024, not the 1900s. This Bill is important in recognising that we need maternity leave if we are to get more women involved in politics.

As a single parent, I waited until my son went to college. I wanted to get into politics from the moment I had to deal with maternity services and realised how bad they were for women. I knew that until we had more women representatives, the position would not improve. I could not possibly get into politics, however, with no maternity leave or supports available in Leinster House for women in politics. By bringing forward this measure, women in this job and other jobs will see that they can get maternity leave. Hopefully, we will see more women putting their hands up and joining us in these Houses because we definitely need more women involved in politics.

I highlight the work of the Irish Cancer Society and Erica Tierney and Mary Canavan who I know are not here today. It is people's lived experiences and the passion that drives them that remind politicians of what we need to do and what is important, so that we do our best in serving people and addressing the challenges they face.

I will quote these two women briefly. Erica Tierney stated:

My maternity leave ended the week after I finished treatment. I was really sick from treatment, totally bald and hardly able to shuffle to the shop let alone go back to work. Yet that was my maternity leave gone.

Mary Canavan said:

The whole point of maternity leave is that the mother has the time to be with their child and to bond with their child during the important early months in their life. However, you do not get that time at all if you have cancer. There is no reason you should be disadvantaged because you’ve had cancer and had a baby at the same time. You should be given an extra bit of leeway there because it’s such a horrendous situation.

I commend the Minister on this Bill. It is definitely a step forward. We want to be a progressive country. We want equality in representation and this Bill is very important for that. I thank the Minister for pushing it through.