Government must deliver paid pregnancy loss leave this year
Government must deliver paid pregnancy loss leave this year - The Labour Party
Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has called on Government to make paid pregnancy loss leave law this year after raising the issue in the Dáil today. The call comes as the UK announces a new right to leave following pregnancy loss and ahead of Deputy Marie Sherlock bringing Labour’s bill before the Oireachtas Enterprise Committee tomorrow.
Deputy Bacik said:
“Pregnancy loss can bring grief, physical pain and weeks of recovery. Nobody should have to calculate how much leave they can afford, or explain a deeply personal loss to an employer, while going through it. Women need leave when it matters most.
“Today, the UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that employees who experience pregnancy loss will have a right to up to two weeks off work. That leave will be unpaid, which leaves a real gap. In Ireland, Labour is asking Government to go further and guarantee paid leave, so that taking time to grieve and recover does not mean losing income.
“I first introduced legislation to provide this support in the Seanad five years ago. Senators supported it unanimously, as did Government at the time. Yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed progress to move at a glacial pace. Every year of delay means more people facing pregnancy loss without the support they need at work.
“Tomorrow, my colleague Deputy Marie Sherlock will bring Labour’s bill before the Enterprise Committee. It would provide paid leave following miscarriage and time off for fertility treatment. These are practical measures that would give women security at some of the hardest moments of their lives.
“Minister Chambers acknowledged the issue in response in the Dáil today, but five years after Labour first put forward this legislation, Government must end the delay. I am asking the Minister to take this proposal on and commit to paid leave for pregnancy loss and fertility treatment.”