Tom Clonan (Independent)

I thank the Minister for being here. I commend the Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 and Senator Ryan and my colleagues in Sinn Féin who co-sponsored the Bill. It is very important and, as has been set out by colleagues, this is the least we can do in marking this loss. The most extraordinary thing we can do as human beings is bring life into the world.

I have been privileged to sit with my colleagues on both sides of the House, as part of the Oireachtas joint initiative on pregnancy loss and loss of an infant, which was started by Senator Ryan. My daughter, Liadain, would be 22 years old now if she had lived. I attended the births of all five of my children. In Liadain's case, it was a completely silent delivery. I was reminded of aspects of that when Senator Ryan was describing those moments, at 12, 14 or 20 weeks. We are all on the same pathway. There is the sudden shock of that loss and then the grieving for the life that would have been. With my little girl, there were many nights I would have lain with my hands on her mum's tummy feeling those little kicks and anticipating what the future might hold. Whether it is a blue line on a pregnancy test, a heartbeat, an echo or a scan, it is a pathway so many of us walk and then to have that loss. Taking my little girl to the little angels plot in Glasnevin Cemetery, the hardest thing in the world to do was to put her in the ground and then turn around and walk away, leaving all of our hopes there in the ground. Her mum's milk had come in for little lips that were no longer, and her little eyes. As with Senator Ryan's little one, all of these little lives were formed and then to be lost in that way.

The very least we can do is not just allow this Bill to pass but promote it and speed it through. I agree the working time Act is the perfect place for this. This is a very well-drafted Bill. In the context of everything all of us have shared here, section 23C(1) makes provision for "5 working days" and "2.5 working days". The Cabinet, with all of its collective skill, decided to delay this Bill by one year. This a trend that is emerging. This House is designed not to be a mirror of the Lower House; it is supposed to challenge the Lower House and complement it. We have come here with our lived experience and poured out our hearts and souls, only for the Government to delay the Bill by a year. In this system, the Government knows very well how many Private Members' business slots Senators will get during the lifetime of a Government. If they are lucky, they will get maybe three or four so to delay this Bill by a year is, I am sorry to say, a negative act. We can do better than that. If it is to become a trend that all initiatives that have cross-party support are dealt with in this manner, by summary delay, one designed to kill the Bill, I think we have a better way of doing politics.

There is nothing in one Bill that could not be achieved within the timeframe it would take to progress the BiIl naturally through this House. To invest time and effort in drafting a rationale for this amendment - as I have seen it here and saw last week in regard to other legislation - is dispiriting. We can be better than that. Fundamentally, it sends a very strong signal to the women of Ireland. It struck me when Senator Ryan said that miscarriage and pregnancy loss are the greatest cause of loss and grief and the least acknowledged. Here, we have an opportunity to make a very strong statement to the women and people of Ireland. Amending the Bill in this way is a lost opportunity. I commend Senator Ryan on her moral courage and leadership. We should hold the Government to account on this, this time next year.