Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the guidance of the Acting Chairperson. If Members will indulge me for a minute before I speak to the amendments in group A, I wish to warmly welcome three women and their families to the House here today for this important matter. Having experienced the terrible news of a cancer diagnosis during their pregnancies, Erica Tierney, Mary Canavan and Emma McGuinness have all campaigned tirelessly to ensure that women who are diagnosed with cancer during their pregnancy can pause their maternity leave while they receive treatment. From now on, any woman with serious illness; whether it be physical or mental, will be able to avail of this pause in their maternity leave. It is because of their generosity in sharing their personal stories that we are here today to see this particular piece of legislation enacted.

I wish to give a special welcome to Róise, Erica’s daughter and Cillian, Mary’s son, who are here today to support their mams.

I thank the Irish Cancer Society for their work and supporting these wonderful women to tell their important stories. We will be one of the first countries internationally to legislate for the deferral of maternity leave in cases of serious illness, and we can all be very proud of that. I welcome all of the families and I thank them for their work to date. I should also reference my own mam and dad and my uncle Gerard and recognise their tireless work in helping me and allowing me to be here today.

The amendments in this group are largely technical in nature. Amendments Nos. 1 and 15 propose a change to the Short and Long Titles of the Act, respectively, to reflect the proposed addition of sections related to non-disclosure agreements and preservation of records that were not part of the published Bill. The first amendment further provides for the commencement of different sections of the Act. Amendment No. 2 is a standard provision related to expenses incurred in the administration of the Act.

Amendments Nos 3 and 4 are of a technical nature, changing wording slightly and correcting a cross-reference but with no change to the intended purpose of the amended section.

Amendment No. 8 provides for the Minister for Social Protection to make regulations to allow for maternity benefit to also be postponed in line with the provisions to postpone maternity leave. This is necessary to ensure that when a person who is eligible for maternity leave and benefit avails of the option to postpone her maternity leave, she can defer her maternity benefit at the same time.