Nessa Cosgrove
Labour Panel · Labour Party · Ireland
“The Minister of State recognised that there was a grassroots movement and the documentary "Groundswell" captured it. There is also the documentary "Gasland", which was made in America and came out in 2010. We know it is going to come from America. Again, this is the Trojan horse.”
“The amendment defines "fracked gas", which does not appear anywhere in the Bill. This, with amendment No. 13, would make clear that the importation of fracked gas would not be possible under the Bill. LNG particularly when sourced in the US, is usually derived from fracking.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, after line 39, to insert the following: " "hydraulically fractured gas" means liquefied natural gas, or natural gas in any other form, that has been produced, in whole or in part, by means of hydraulic fracturing within the meaning of section 5A of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960;".…”
“I am sorry but I just do not buy the argument that it is security. A floating LNG storage facility in Qatar was blown up. It is actually more of a risk to our security to have a floating LNG terminal. This whole thing is mad.”
“All of us were probably at the IFA briefing yesterday. When they gave us the briefing document I saw that it was exactly the same as the one last year and I wondered whether it had got anything it looked for. I was told not really, apart perhaps with regard to areas of natural constraint.”
“Historians, no doubt, are going to refer to this legislation in that way, because the reserve is not going to be used solely for emergencies. We are trying to define what an emergency is. There is no definition. Seven years ago, we led the way in the international community by committing to phase out oil and gas exploration.”
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“The Minister of State is very welcome. I am delighted, as this is relevant to both of us in our area. I will give some background to Project WAVE, which stands for Working towards Academic and Vocational Equity. It is a project which everyone associated with Atlantic Technological University, ATU, is very proud of. It gives students with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to attend college. The students attending Project WAVE recently visited me here in Leinster House and met several Senators and TDs. These students defy all expectations that many people hold regarding people with what would be better described as intellectual differences, rather than intellectual disabilities. The students may have Down's syndrome, autism or other forms of neurodivergence.”
“Often, it can be overlooked in youth services that looking at recruiting, managing staff and supervising a staff takes up a considerable amount of time. I hope this sector in particular will be looked at in this new strategy going forward.”
“Volunteers are essential for sustaining youth work infrastructure. I worked as a project worker in target-led youth work but it is the volunteers who provide a lot of the services that bring young people in who might end up going into targeted youth work. From talking to the NYCI, there needs to be further investment in looking at how to support the club development. If organisations are not developed through having professional staff supporting the youth club development, they are often then at a loss. They might lose that whole grassroots sector, its reach of diversity and meeting young people where they are. That is why I would love to see clear, adequate funding for staff, particularly those who are dealing with volunteers in youth work services. It is a big investment.”
“I have a family and I would be lost without sport for my middle boy. I give a shout-out to all the volunteers in GAA groups, soccer and all the sports groups with which he is involved. I am not on my own as a parent thinking "Thank God for the GAA". This is from someone who would not have been the most massive or biggest fan in the world but I am now because I can see the benefits as a parent to have volunteer-led groups in one's own community, especially in rural Ireland where the opportunities in other areas might not always be there. Before I finish, I want to talk about the youth sector. I know this has come up before here. I am a big believer of mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. One kind word to a young person can lead someone on a completely different path throughout their life.”
“This also comes up from an artist's point of view or in the case of new communities coming in when they are trying to get Garda vetting if they lived in a country or even had a short stay somewhere. Particularly in art projects, you might be involved in one art project for one day and you have to go through the whole Garda vetting process if you are working with young people. The whole Garda vetting process is having an impact on volunteers. That is something that has come up when I have been working with arts organisations and with volunteer groups. We saw in 2022 the Immigrant Council of Ireland reported that 63% of migrants wanted to volunteer but they lacked information or there were cultural or language barriers. That is something I hope will be looked at. I want to give a shout-out to all the volunteers in my own community.”
“We are looking to support more organisations to incorporate flexibility into their volunteer programmes. That would be looking at supporting through public participation networks, PPNs, local development companies and the volunteer centres. At the time, Volunteer Ireland made the point based on its consultations that most organisations and volunteers consulted had never heard of a national volunteering strategy. It has also come up that there was going to be a full communications plan as part of the strategy and hopefully that will come along with this new strategy. From my own experience as a volunteer in youth work but also in the scouts, I can mention transport issues and the long complex Garda vetting process, which can often deter a lot of people.”
“Over the last four years, it has been really welcome to have the whole-of-government policy recognising and promoting the value of volunteers in Irish society. I am delighted to hear of the commitment to a new strategy and we will be looking forward to hearing more about that and when it will be rolled out. We cannot leave voluntary organisations waiting without clarity. We know the last volunteering strategy was great but it was not perfect. Volunteer Ireland has pointed to several issues that need to be addressed. I know the Government has been listening to the feedback from Volunteer Ireland which, hopefully, will be addressed in the coming strategy. Recruitment and retention for voluntary organisations remain an issue. Often, organisations rely on the same people a lot.”
“People who have volunteered themselves can see how much it contributes to society. It is well documented. We can also see how much we get ourselves from volunteering such as the physical and mental benefits and the career opportunities. I want to give a shout-out to our own Carrick-on-Shannon, which won Ireland's tidiest town award in the Tidy Towns competition and Sligo won the cleanest town award. These our volunteer-led services. Sligo Welcome Ambassadors is another volunteer group which shows people around the town. It is services like that and arts festivals that keep our towns and villages alive. I come from a community development background as does the Minister of State. That is why it was so welcome to see the Government publish the first national volunteering strategy in 2021.”
“I thank everyone again for letting me take this slot. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit as well. It is no exaggeration to say that our society was built upon the work of volunteers. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine as they say after all. In the 2022 census, the CSO found that over 700,000 people in the State were regularly giving their time and expertise for a voluntary cause. That is incredible. We can see that in every town and village. We know they keep our services alive. It has been said too that the volunteers do the work that, for better or worse, the State has been unwilling or unable to do at the time. The resources that volunteering provides in terms of energy, personnel, finance and commitment would come at a very considerable cost to the State if it were to be sourced on the open market. We can all see the benefits.”
“Without collective bargaining rights and increased trade union membership, this situation will continue. We need to see the value of young workers and all workers, and they need to be valued in their pay packets. We need the Government to enact the promised legislation on the directive on an adequate minimum wage. There is genuine poverty and hardship among a huge volume of workers. We are again educating our young people for the boat. If we continue to fail to address the most pressing issue we face, which is the housing shortage, then as the young woman who was on the radio yesterday said, she and her friends are being left with no alternative because there is no future for young people in this country. It is time we had a serious debate about young people and the role they play in our economy and in the country.”
“Shona made it clear that the job opportunities are here, with multinationals and subsidiaries having their bases in Ireland, but entry-level positions will not pay the rent. I bring this up because Shona highlighted and articulated so well what was found in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions survey, which was also released yesterday. It showed that more than half of workers in Ireland feel their level of pay does not reflect their efforts or their skills. This cannot be dismissed as working people complaining they are not paid enough. There is a real problem that wages simply are not high enough to allow people to pay the extortionate rent and mortgage rates in this country. Workers' value in the labour market has been undermined and watered down over the years.”
“Last week, the Seanad debated the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which I think is the most important legislation that has come before us so far. Because of the Government's desire to guillotine it, we did not really have the opportunity to interrogate it fully. Rushed legislation is bad legislation. Yesterday on my local radio station, Ocean FM, Shona Sheridan, a young woman from Manorhamilton who is an HR master's student, was interviewed. She spoke about the plight of new graduates and said that those with high potential and high levels of knowledge were being run out of the country by unaffordable rents. This is a young woman who wants to stay in Ireland and wants to contribute to society and the economy but is finding it impossible to find accommodation she can afford to rent.”
“There are 69 amendments and none of them have been accepted. It would be very fitting for the Minister to accept this one.”
“The section would, in effect, reintroduce the emergency period Members will remember from Covid-19. The emergency measure was provided for in the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act and during that period there was a statutory pause on all termination notices. We are calling for this pause until there are more houses built. It is very reasonable. We have another amendment later, which unfortunately we are not going to be able to get to, calling for a ban on evictions into homelessness to stop the evicting of children. As this is being guillotined we are not going to get a chance to speak about it. If the Minister accepts this amendment the new section would provide for a similar ban for three years on all termination notices and evictions. That is pretty reasonable.”
“I move amendment No. 7: “Notices of termination: temporary ban 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other enactment or rule of law, the period of 3 years commencing on the passing of this Act is deemed to be an emergency period within the meaning and for the purposes of section 5 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 and that section, with the exception of subsection (6)(b), applies accordingly.”. I welcome the Minister back to the House. It looks like I have the final amendment of the day. It is a not a very far-fetched amendment and it is a good one. It would basically insert a three-year eviction ban. Small landlords and reasonable landlords might be willing to do this. It is the big institutional landlords that probably would not be in favour of introducing this ban.”
“Maybe the Minister should think about funding local authorities in the context of housing stock they have. They are not able to keep up with the repairs because they have no staff. There is deliberate underfunding of local government, particularly in the context of housing repairs. This has come up over and over again. I send representations to my local county council in Sligo. It is not able to keep up with maintaining the housing stock it has. It is so disingenuous of the Minister to blame officials in county councils for this and to say that they need to be held accountable for it.”
“The Minister is saying that those in opposition are not being constructive and that he is accountable. If he is going to be accountable, why would he not accept the amendment tabled by my colleague Deputy Sheehan to insert a provision whereby the Minister would be required, within two years, to conduct a review into the operation of the effectiveness of the amendments made in the Bill, with the findings and conclusions to be laid before the House in the interests of accountability. As an elected representative, I cannot keep up with the changes that are happening to the Bill all of the time. The Minister spoke about the role of councillors. He is blaming officials in local government. I worked as a councillor. The main issue is with representations from people getting notices to quit.”
“What the Minister is saying is so insulting. There is more to the Opposition than Sinn Féin. As a party, we have tabled 69 amendments to the Bill. The Minister is saying that we are not providing any constructive criticism. The Labour Party has been in government. We have a very good track record of building houses in this country. I cannot say the same, unfortunately, about Fianna Fáil, particularly if the Minister wants to go down the route of talking about the building of social housing being halted. The Minister referred to the Residential Tenancies Board as if it is big to brag that there has been a 70% increase there. It was coming from a really low base. The Residential Tenancies Act has been amended more than 14 times. That is once every 18 months. There is talk about housing tsars.”
“For too long, educational professionals have been left to deal with the consequences of an incident on their own. The Bill addresses this. I thank Senator Harmon, Sophie and all of the SNAs and teachers who educate our children as best they can and for which our country is so well renowned.”
“As well as the medical expenses and loss of earnings mentioned, this teacher has experienced other financial losses as she is unable to complete State examinations work, which she always did. On a number occasions, she had to stay overnight in Galway. The teacher reached out after she heard about this legislation, which shows how important it is. She is one of many. We all know it is impossible to completely remove the risk of an injury occurring in a school environment but we can put in place systems that support educational professionals following an incident which leaves them in need. Senator Harmon's Bill does this. I thank the trade unions again for how much work they put into the Bill, which will recognise the duty of care the State has towards education providers.”
“This operation is a last resort and is normally reserved for elderly patients, as it will cause a significant reduction in wrist mobility. Following her six months' assault leave and 50 days of sick leave, she returned to work on limited duty, unable to do the home economics classes she loved, as she remained unable to lift, cut and sew as a result of the assault. Remaining on sick leave was not an option. Being on half pay meant she could not meet her young family’s needs. To finish in her own words: I have been eating pain killers and in constant pain since I went back to work. I will have to use my own sick leave again, and possibly go to half pay, for my operation next month. I have medical bills of €2,200, as well as 4,000 km of mileage from seven round trips to Galway.”
“The teacher went on to explain that, thanks to the excellent care of her GP, she had an MRI which showed ligament and cartilage tears and a partial bone dislocation. Following steroid injections into the joint and surgery to repair a large tear, it was hoped that the dislocated bone would relocate when the inflammation subsided. Despite six months of physiotherapy, the pain and lack of wrist function continued. One year on, the ulna bone is still out of position, fluid and inflammation are still present, a tendon is inflamed and possibly out of position and wrist ligaments are showing chronic tearing. Another operation is scheduled for this March to cut nerves to the wrist. If that does not reduce the pain, a third operation to fuse the bones together will be required.”
“Since this the debate on First Stage, I have been contacted by teachers and SNAs from all over my constituency. I spent a long time working in schools. The common thread is that SNAs and teachers love their job. That is very clear. It is a great idea that the name will be changed because teachers and SNAs do not want to blame anyone. I will relay the experience of a home economics teacher from my constituency. She has a very similar story to Sophie and she has given me permission to speak about it today as well. She stated: Last February, I was assaulted by an adult autistic student in the classroom. I suffered a blunt force trauma to my right wrist. I was in horrific pain. The next day, I attended accident and emergency in Letterkenny, was x-rayed and put in a splint.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It is great to have her here and I thank her for her proactive approach to the Bill. It is great that she will allow it to pass Second Stage. I know how hard Senator Harmon has worked on this legislation and it is an absolute privilege for me to have met Sophie and Shane to hear their story. Sophie is a true inspiration. I am fully in support of calling it Sophie's Law when it is enacted. I welcome and thank all of the SNAs from Fórsa and the teachers from the INTO. Without their support, this Bill would not have got this far. I know the Minister has engaged proactively with the union representatives as well. I welcome my Labour Party colleagues to the House because, as Senator Harmon said, this is a workers' rights issue.”
“I hope the Minister of State will reconsider the idea of bulldozing this through just because he does not want to listen to very sensible amendments from all the Opposition benches.”
“The issue of student accommodation has come up many times and there is a lack of available purpose-built student accommodation but. until it is built, and there are strides being made to build it, why can accommodation not be put into that in the meantime, so that students will not be affected by this? I am disappointed the Minister of State is not listening to the amendments. There are many qualified people with experience and knowledge on the Opposition benches. They are worthy of having their amendments listened to. Instead, the Bill will be rammed and pushed through the House. We spent hours deliberating over the Mental Health Bill and the defamation Bill, and rightly so; that is our job. We are here to talk through legislation and work it out; not to have it rammed through.”
“To be eligible for a social house in Sligo, you have to earn €30,000. That is it. They should be higher. They have not been reviewed for years and should be higher until more housing comes on stream. If we look at building houses, why are there not more affordable to rent and affordable to buy houses being built? I argue this Bill aims to appease institutional landlords. Low pay is an area we have spoken about, and I know people here have spoken about pensions. Every day we are contacted on these issues. The main thing all of us as politicians hear about is housing, but there are also pensioners, as Senator Andrews said. I have pensioners coming to me who are 60 or 65 years of age and have received notices to quit but have nowhere to go. Where are they going to go?”
“If you can do your job from home, you should be entitled to do it there. Again, this would relieve the housing crisis. I get the train up and down to Sligo. We can see the homeless crisis is very hard, and it took me a long time to get my head around it, seeing so many people, including children, homeless. As Labour Party spokesperson on workers' rights, I have made the point that there many low-paid workers are stuck in the middle. They cannot afford rent and, in my opinion, the HAP rates are too low. I know I should not be saying that because I do not want to be giving money to private landlords, but the HAP rates need to be increased until the supply of housing is there. The HAP rates are too low, so people are getting notices to quit and they have nowhere to go. The thresholds for social housing are also too low.”
“If we wanted to have a full governmental approach to this, which I thought we would and that is one way we could look at solving the housing crisis, this would have been able to support bringing in the minimum wage for apprentices, which we have previously brought before the Seanad. We have a shortage of apprentices and there are many of them leaving in the first year, with low pay cited as one of the main reasons. I cannot understand why this was not taken into account. Instead of trying to appease smaller landlords, we are actually talking about vulture funds here. The Bill reflects the neoliberal influence that, unfortunately, this Government is paying homage to. My own party colleagues have brought forward legislation on the right to flexible work and the right to remote working.”
“A three-year rent freeze is nothing to be looking for. For general, smaller landlords, a three-year rent freeze is not the end of the world. Ruling out no-fault eviction is not going to be the end of the world and neither is stopping evicting children into homelessness. These are all very easy things on which the Government could work with a small landlord. It is the big institutional landlords who are the ones influencing this Bill. That is wrong and the Government should listen to the Opposition. We all live in the same constituencies. In Sligo where I live, the average rent has gone up 90% since Covid, with the average rent of a house being €1,400. That is crazy. In Leitrim, it is €1,300, having gone up 98% since Covid.”
“There is no doubt we all want to solve this crisis. Labour has a strong track record on housing. We had the housing Department while in government. We put forward proposals that were not always supported, but we also put forward proposals that were supported. We definitely do not want to disagree with this. We see there is, of course, room for a rental market, but we have put in 69 amendments and I cannot understand why none of them were taken up. We have a track record and a history. We have been calling for a State construction company since 2024, and I know other people have come along with it now too. We are not trying to be awkward. We in the Labour Party believe the market is not going to solve the housing crisis. This Bill is trying to appease institutional landlords. We can see this right across the board.”
“It was said nach bhfuil aon rud as an áireamh - that nothing is off the table. Would it be a possibility that there might be a possibility of a single ombudsman for road safety, who could co-ordinate safety improvements and improve the performance of the RSA? That might be a good place to start. The RSA's brief is massive between NCTs and driver's licences. If something else was looking at road safety in particular, it might be an idea.”
“The Love 30 campaign is a campaign that might be worth examining again to keep it in the Minister of State's gift rather than by-laws for local authorities because as the Minister of State is aware himself, some local authorities will do it and some will not. Another one is safe road use. I know we have come a long way on this. It is about education and training. I was particularly struck by motorcyclists at the last Oireachtas committee meeting. Motorcyclists are very good drivers. They made very good suggestions that motorways could be part of the driving test. They can see big collisions where people are completely blinded to motorcyclists, particularly on motorways. I have suggestions from them. I know a report will be coming out from that, but these are suggestions from them.”
“I am glad that the Sinn Féin amendment that I support about sharing information around collisions has been accepted in order that the design teams within the local authorities are able to adapt accordingly. I raise safe speeds and the Love 30 campaign. I was disappointed to hear that it is not in the Minister of State's gift any more to implement the limit within local authorities, that it is going to be a by-law within local authorities to implement the Love 30 campaign. At one stage, I thought it was in the Minister of State's gift, that he would be able to implement this safety measure. It has been proven that if a car user is going at 30 km/h and hits a pedestrian, one in ten pedestrians will die. If it is 50 km/h, five in ten pedestrians or cyclists will die. If it is 60 km/h, it is nine in ten. They are stark.”
“The witnesses that are appearing before us are really informed and are giving us a good idea of protections for them as vulnerable road users. The safe systems approach to road safety shifts responsibility from maintaining his or her own safety away from exclusively the individual user to the system that designs and constructs the roads. I know this has come up as part of the motion. This can be especially but not exclusively relevant in urban areas and village centres, where the proportion of pedestrians and cyclists can be higher. It makes most sense to protect the most vulnerable where they are the most prevalent. There are seven key priority areas, four of which are particularly relevant to vulnerable road users. These are safe roads and roadsides and working with the local authorities.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am going to talk briefly about the hierarchy of vulnerable road users. I welcome the debate today. It is great to have it. I welcome the Minister of State here. I am also a member of the transport committee. We have been discussing road safety over the last couple of weeks. We are getting an insight into more vulnerable road users in particular. That is what I am going to talk about. Vulnerable road users are simultaneously the least likely to cause other road users harm and the most likely to suffer harm themselves. I will talk about systems that are put in place. These are recommendations that have come from cyclists, people we have heard from on the committee, and motorcyclists. It is continuing on.”
“From here, I need to rally the troops, even in the Seanad, to make sure we are supportive of this. Am I correct that the €750,000 is available until the end of this year? Did the Minister of State say that at the end of his contribution?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. He confirmed I am right that they are still eligible for this even though the period falls outside the decade of centenaries. As there have been a number of different local authorities involved, would it be possible to go between Longford County Council and Leitrim County Council and for both to work together?”
“Leitrim was and remains a Border county. The proximity of this artificial border continues to have a cultural and economic impact in the areas where we live. The campaign is for these men to get the proper recognition they deserve. Unfortunately because they came out in 1926 this falls outside the decade of centenaries. The campaign is supported by Leitrim and Longford county councils. Deputies Micheál Carrigy and Martin Kenny, and the Minister of State, Deputy Frank Feighan, are aware of the campaign. Leitrim and Longford county councils are currently arranging exhibitions to commemorate the event. As it is such a unique situation and because it was such a mixture of pro- and anti-Treaty men fighting in this, they need the recognition they deserve.”
“Bernie Sweeney from Ballinamore was a member of the south Leitrim flying column. He was a survivor of the Selton ambush near Gorvagh in 1921, during which he was seriously injured and six members of the flying column killed. Following the War of Independence and the Civil War he set up a family business in Ballinamore before passing away in 1974. John Kiernan from Newtowngore was only 19 when he was arrested. He had not been involved in the War of Independence and was probably recruited for the operation because he had a good knowledge of driving and motor cars. After his release he went on to run the family business in Newtowngore. He died in 1931, very sadly aged only 23. His years of incarceration cut his life all too short. These five men from County Leitrim were five ordinary men who were called on to do extraordinary things.”
“Following his release from Peterhead he emigrated to the US and during the Second World War he served in the American army as a radio operator. He became president of the Leitrim Society of New York and died in 1987. It was Joseph's grand-niece, Linda McManus from Sligo, who first contacted me about the centenary of their release. The next man I want to speak about is John Joe Griffin from Gortletteragh and Drumshanbo. He was a teacher before he joined the first battalion in Leitrim. He went on to serve in the newly founded An Garda Síochána – my own grandfather was one of the first gardaí as well – serving in Limerick and Portlaoise. He went to his reward in 1971. The next man is Charlie Reynolds, also from Drumshanbo. He also joined the Garda after the Civil War.”
“These were called the Peterhead Ten because they were held in the brutal Peterhead prison in Scotland and were among the last IRA prisoners to be released from British prisons in 1926. A few weeks ago, I outlined the events that resulted in their incarceration but today would like to focus my comments on the five individuals from County Leitrim, which is in my constituency and is the reason I am bringing this up, who were sent to Peterhead following their capture in this cross-Border raid. Joseph Reynolds from Aghacashel sacrificed his youth and liberty to fight for Ireland. He was involved in the struggle for freedom from a very young age, having been instructed by Seán Mac Diarmada, also a Leitrim man, as early as 1913. He worked closely with Countess Markievicz.”
“The incursion took place before legal partition and before the outbreak of the Civil War but within the context of an understanding that a border was coming and increasing tensions between pro- and anti-Treaty elements of the IRA. Understanding this context is key to understanding the individuals who took place in this incursion, because this group, which was very unique, comprised men who were known to be pro- and anti-Treaty, which was significant at the time. They worked together to achieve a common objective. Among the large body of insurgents was a group of ten men, comprising five volunteers and officers from Leitrim, three from Longford - Frank Reilly, William Reilly and Joseph Lee - along with the famous Sean Flood from Dublin and Jim Davis from Derry.”
“On a morning in February 1922, the then British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, received a telegram informing him that large bands of insurgents had crossed the emerging frontier before entering the Six Counties. Understanding the context of this incursion is very significant. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had been signed in December 2021 and ratified by Dáil Éireann in January 2022 but had not yet come into effect. While Northern Ireland had already come into existence in May 1921, the Free State did not formally come into being until 6 December 1922 in the midst of the Civil War. It was not until the Free State was in existence that Northern Ireland was then permitted to opt out of the jurisdiction. I am sorry to be giving a history lesson but the background is important, as this was a very specific timeline.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. A couple of weeks ago on the Order of Business, I raised the 100th anniversary of an event that so far has gone largely unmarked in the commemorations surrounding the decade of centenaries. Since then, I have had the pleasure of meeting a group of the surviving relatives of the Peterhead Ten and have come to realise not only the extent of the sacrifice these brave men made, but also the unique significance of their contributions. I will give a bit of background to this issue. I know the Minister of State comes from a Border county himself, so he might be familiar with the nature of what happened at the time.”
“The Bill has the full backing of both myself and Senator Harmon, who is not here today. I commend Senator Ryan on consistently bringing forward such legislation.”
“It builds on that legislation by providing that an employee who is pregnant or on maternity leave and who suffers the death of a child can request a postponement of all or part of their maternity leave for a period of up to 52 weeks. It is compassionate and it is exactly what we spoke about this morning. We spoke about postnatal depression, trauma and the physical and emotional supports mothers and parents need after having a baby. This would give mothers control over their lives as they face into unimaginable grief. It is a parent's worst nightmare. It would allow them to return to work on their own terms. Some mothers will choose not to postpone their leave but this would at least give them the choice. That is what we are here to do. We are here to make sure that mothers do have a choice and to give people dignity.”
“It came on foot of brave campaigning by the Irish Cancer Society, the INTO and others. If we could do it then, surely we can do it now. In fairness, this was not a first for the Oireachtas. In 2004, the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act allowed employees who were sick to request termination of additional maternity leave and it allowed for maternity leave to be postponed if the child was hospitalised. The 2016 Act then introduced a provision that a father or surviving parent could take maternity leave where the mother died within 40 weeks of birth. Over the previous decades, we have agreed that compassion needs to apply when families face difficult circumstances. This Bill is very logical.”
“To then come back to this timed amendment does not really make sense. The loss of a child is devastating. It is the greatest fear of any parent. It is right that, as legislators, we aim to do what we can in a caring society to help our neighbours through times of suffering. That is what this Bill does. It is a small but very focused change. It does not ask to change the world but it would make a change that would smooth the path for families going through some of their darkest days and would provide dignity, honesty and compassion. In 2024, the year of the maternity protection Act, we recognised a certain principle. The Minister went through that. The Act allowed maternity leave to be postponed in cases of serious illness. That was an important and compassionate step and it has to be commended.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am also disappointed about the timed amendment and the reason given for it. Eighteen months is a very long time. As Senator Clonan has said, we do not get to bring Bills forward too often. Eighteen months is a very long time for something as significant as this. While it does not affect that many people, it can transform lives. It is small legislation but very important. It would have a significant impact on families, mothers and fathers but would not involve a huge number of people. I again thank Senator Ryan and her colleagues for introducing the Bill. Senator Ryan has been instrumental in highlighting care for pregnancy loss and postnatal care. Just before this, we had a fantastic session where we got full support from Government and Opposition for a year of postnatal care.”