Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)

I stand in full support of Sinn Féin's , not just as a legislator but as someone who has lived the reality that this Bill seeks to recognise. I commend my colleague, Senator Ryan, on the work she has put into this Bill and the thoughtfulness that is in it.

Miscarriage is common, painful and too often invisible. I know this because I went through it myself. When I miscarried, I was in a job where I did not have the option to leave my post. There was no system, no cover and no policy in place to say you are experiencing loss so you can go and will be supported. So I stayed and miscarried while I worked because there was no other option. That is the silence this Bill seeks to end: the silence in our workplaces, in our systems and in our State. There is another part of that silence that I want to speak to.

The first time my miscarriage was ever formally acknowledged was not at the time it happened but when I became pregnant again with my son. In the maternity hospital, I was asked not how many children I had but how many pregnancies I had. For the first time it struck me that this was not my third pregnancy but actually my fourth. In that quiet question of how many pregnancies, I realised my loss was seen. It was known and counted, not just by me or my family but by a system that understood that it did matter because it does matter. This Bill will give people the choice to have that acknowledgement through a certificate, paid leave and data that can finally tell the full story of miscarriage in this country.

As my colleagues have said, one in every four women experience miscarriage, but I truly believe that the number is a lot more. If every women in this Chamber who has stood up so far was to be counted, 99% of us have said we have gone through this. We have never been a policy built around that reality. This Bill is about dignity, fairness and recognition. It is about making space in our systems for the kind of grief that does not get spoken out loud. I support this Bill not just for myself but for every person who has suffered in silence, gone back to work too soon or never seen the loss recognised. This Bill sees them and I am proud to stand here and say that I do too.