IBEC: Egg-freezing debate 'good for women'

A director at the Employers Group IBEC said the debate over tech companies offering to freeze female employees' eggs is "good for women".

The story hit the headlines yesterday after it emerged that Facebook is covering the cost of the procedure for employees in the US so they can focus on their careers.

Apple and Facebook's Irish operations both say they have no plans to introduce the "perk" here.

IBEC's Director of Policy and Corporate Affairs Mary Rose Burke said that while she has no view on the offer itself, the debate it has generated is important.

"Anything that puts the women's agenda into (the media) and gets people debating it, is important. Anything to do with women's reproductive health is an issue for individual women. I won’t comment (on that)," she said.

Update 9.45am: Speaking ahead of a women in business and politics event in Dublin, Tánaiste Joan Burton said she would prefer "more traditional" approaches.

"In terms of women who want to have children and are of child-bearing age, I think my preference would be that people are able to have children and are able to balance their family and their work life," she said.