Laura Harmon (Labour)

I fully support this Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. I commend Senator Nicole Ryan on bringing forward this extremely well thought-out, researched, detailed, compassionate, caring and health-focused Bill to the House today. I thank the Sinn Féin Senators for bringing forward this Bill.

I have been struck by this debate. I was not actually going to speak but it is important to say that representation and diversity really matter in politics. We now have more women in the Seanad than ever. Today, I am the 11th woman to speak on this Bill. I have not experienced pregnancy loss but I have known people who have, including people in my family. This is not just a women's issue. Senator Clonan spoke eloquently spoke of his personal experience of this. It affects people regardless of gender and affects partners regardless of gender, but it has predominantly affected women. This House has a strong record of bringing forward issues in relation to pregnancy, be it in contraception or reproductive rights. We saw Mary Robinson, when she was a Senator decades ago, spearheading the campaign for contraception. We have seen the likes of Ivana Bacik on the abortion issue. It is about a whole spectrum of issues and it is truly extraordinary that we do not have legislation like this in place already. I would argue that we do not have it because, over the years, there was not enough diversity in political representation to bring it forward. This is part of a wider journey of opening doors and opening the conversation on pregnancy, pregnancy loss and the stigma that exists around it, and it is an issue that has been in the dark for a very long time. It is therefore really welcome we are having such an open discussion on it here today. We can see how it affects so many Senators in this room, regardless of their gender.

It is a really important Bill. We know that one in four pregnancies will end in loss. In terms of the Bill itself, this is an issue that needs to be dealt in terms of the working time Act and employment rights. The fact that the Bill makes provision for leave from work is very important and it needs to be recognised. It is a health issue in terms of physical health, emotional health and mental health, and that does need to be recognised. I particularly welcome the fact that the Bill has a provision to register the loss in a confidential manner because this is about acknowledging people, the grief that is experienced, the true loss that is experienced and allowing people to have that recognition. This is crucially important. A total of 51% of the population in Ireland are women and one in four pregnancies will end in loss.

Other Senators have mentioned this but I just wanted to say that there is a trend by the Government of kicking the can down the road when it comes to legislation that comes from this House. It seems that there is a delaying tactic. How many pregnancies will end in loss in the space of 12 months? A full-term pregnancy is nine months. How many pregnancies will end in loss in the course of the 12 months the Government proposes to delay this? I would argue that it has been delayed long enough. Senator Ryan has been able to draft this well-constructed, well-researched, caring, compassionate and health-led Bill and she has been a Senator for less than six months, but the Minister is saying he needs a whole year to consider how it can be done. That is unacceptable and the Government needs to step up to the mark for women and their partners throughout the country.