Bill to introduce miscarriage leave to be brought to cabinet today

MINISTER FOR ENTERPRISE Peter Burke will today bring a bill introducing miscarriage leave to cabinet for sign-off ahead of the Dáil’s summer recess.

Once the bill becomes law, it will be the first time the State has introduced a policy to provide miscarriage leave to women in the workplace who have suffered a pregnancy loss before 23 weeks.

The proposed bill would provide 5 days’ sick leave paid by the employer.

Under existing legislation, employees are entitled to full maternity leave in the case of a stillbirth after 23 weeks’ gestation.  However, there is no provision before this time.

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There is no date yet for when the miscarriage leave bill will enter into law as it must first pass through both Houses of the Oireachtas. TDs and Senators will break for the summer recess at the end of this week and will not return to Leinster House until mid September. 

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland became the first part of the UK or Ireland to introduce such leave, with women given the right to two weeks of paid leave following a miscarriage from 6 April.

In Ireland, miscarriage is one of the most common complications in early pregnancy. 

It is estimated that one in five women will have a miscarriage in their lives.

Due to a lack of standardised reporting, it is not known how many women suffer a miscarriage in Ireland annually.

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