Delay to bill introducing IVF and miscarriage leave 'disheartening'

The Government has been criticised for failing to support the Reproductive Leave Bill. Picture: PA

The Government has been criticised for failing to support a bill to introduce leave for those who experience miscarriage or are going through IVF.

The Coalition has delayed by a year a bill that aims to provide leave for the 14,000 women in Ireland who experience pregnancy loss each year and the one in six couples who face fertility issues.

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, whose party tabled the Reproductive Leave Bill, described the delay as a "disheartening setback".

"While the Government claims to support the bill in principle, actions speak louder than words. 

We must question the sincerity of their commitment to the wellbeing of individuals affected by early pregnancy loss and fertility issues.

“Despite expressing support for the bill, Government will kick the can down the road by delaying it for 12 months. It is common knowledge that it is unlikely this Government will last another 12 months," she said.

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said 'while the Government claims to support the bill in principle, actions speak louder than words'. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Speaking during a debate on the bill, Minister of State Neale Richmond said the timed amendment would disappoint some politicians and campaigners, but added that it is an "extremely complex policy area" which requires "detailed consideration and assessment" in advance of progressing legislation.

However, he said that as a society we need to continue encouraging a move away from viewing pregnancy loss as something which must be dealt with in secrecy.

Employees should feel that a miscarriage is a loss which they can share with their employer, recognising that they have suffered a bereavement and that they need time to deal with their loss. 

"Reproductive health should also be supported in the workplace, and indeed reproductive rights, and I make that point deliberately," he said.

Labour TD Duncan Smith told Mr Richmond that his Government is making "a huge error, politically" in shelving the proposals.

"Regardless of when the next election is going to take place, we know that a 12-month timed amendment in the life cycle of this Dáil means that this bill will never see the light of day again," he said.

Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly said timed amendments to consider legislation can sometimes be beneficial but claimed that in this case, it was a "cynical" move by the Government.

She told the Dáil: "There is currently an absence in statutory leave laws and workplace protection laws for women who suffer the grief of an early miscarriage. 

"There are also no provisions in Irish law for leave for any woman or man who needs to take time off work to access IVF and the procedures around that, or other fertility treatments. This is the core of what this legislation seeks to address."

Ms O'Reilly said that as a result, women currently have to take annual leave, sick leave, or unpaid days in order to attend appointments or to recover physically and emotionally from an early miscarriage.

"It is important to say that when a woman has had a miscarriage, she might not be physically sick and it is dishonest to produce a sick certificate where someone is not physically sick. However, that does not necessarily mean women are able to go to work," she said.