James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1320. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the work her Department is doing to develop policy interventions at a national level to better support parents who experience pregnancy loss, as per the Programme for Government commitment to “Publish and implement an updated National Strategy for Women and Girls"; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10850/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1321. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she is considering the introduction of temporary bereavement leave for those who have experienced pregnancy loss that does not replace the sick leave the recipient might already be entitled to; if her Department has already examined the potential costs and benefits of such an entitlement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10851/25]

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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1394. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to introduce reproductive health leave; if she will provide details of research her Department has conducted on the subject; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11735/25]

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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1404. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to provide for a period of paid leave consequent upon miscarriage or for the purposes of availing of reproductive healthcare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11923/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1320, 1321, 1394 and 1404 together.

I recognise the enormous impact that pregnancy loss has on expectant parents, and I wish to extend my sympathies to all parents who have suffered such a loss.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth commissioned a qualitative research study to examine the workplace experiences of parents coping with pregnancy loss. The study, ‘PLACES | Pregnancy Loss (under 24 weeks) in Workplaces: Informing Policymakers on Support Mechanisms’, examines whether policy interventions are required at a national level better to support these bereaved parents in the workplace.

The study focuses on people who experience pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks’ gestation, as, at the time, people who had a pregnancy loss after 24 weeks’ gestation could avail of full maternity leave and paternity leave entitlements. Since September 2024, the definition for a stillborn child was amended to a gestational age of at least 23 weeks.

The research report was published on 26 January 2024. The recommendations arising from this study are being reviewed with a view to determining Government policy in respect of this issue. Officials in the Department are currently in the process of developing the next National Strategy for Women and Girls, and the research will inform this work.