Paid leave will be provided for the first time for women who suffer an early miscarriage.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal from Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke to offer five days of paid leave for women who experience a miscarriage before 23 weeks of pregnancy, reports RTE.
Under current legislation, women employees are entitled to full maternity leave in the case of a stillbirth after 23 weeks gestation.
Mr Burke said that the current 23-week threshold “creates a cliff edge in the law, whereby State supports become available after that point, but no support exists for women who experience miscarriage before this cut-off point,” reports RTE.
“By introducing a statutory entitlement to leave for pregnancy loss, we are strengthening workers’ rights in a meaningful and compassionate way – ensuring that employees are supported and treated with dignity at a time of great personal difficulty. This measure creates a more inclusive and responsive employment rights system.”
The proposed Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill aims to provide five days of paid leave per year for individuals who experience a pregnancy loss prior to 23 weeks gestation, reports RTE.
The leave will be paid by the employer at 70% of the daily rate, capped at €110 a day in line with statutory sick leave, and will require medical certification.
The entitlement to leave will be a day one right, while the entitlement to payment will include a 13-week service requirement, reports RTE.
The move follows similar laws recently introduced in Northern Ireland and Malta and could cost in the region of €10 million annually.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “There’s still far too much silence in our country and in our society in relation to this issue of miscarriage, and it’s really important that we bring about a statutory entitlement to pregnancy laws,” reports RTE.
The Labour Party and Sinn Féin have previously called for pregnancy loss leave to be introduced. Labour tabled a bill five years ago seeking to give workers up to 20 days of paid leave to recover from a miscarriage and up to ten days off for IVF treatment.
Sinn Féin’s proposal was brought before the Seanad this time last year and was spearheaded by Cork-based Senator Nicole Ryan, who has spoken publicly about her own experience of pregnancy loss, reports RTE.
Speaking last week, Fine Gael Senator Linda Nelson Murray, who chairs the cross-party Oireachtas group on pregnancy and infant loss, said: “I’ve had multiple miscarriages myself, so I know that heartbreak first-hand. And I’m far from alone.
“Thousands of women and families across Ireland go through it every year, often while trying to hold it together at work and at home like nothing’s happened. I know the difference miscarriage leave would’ve made for me.
“Miscarriage is still surrounded by silence. Women often grieve alone because of discomfort around it, or people don’t know what to say, or because there just aren’t the words for this kind of loss,” she added, reports RTE.
The plans have been reviewed by the Attorney General and by officials at the departments of Health, Enterprise and Public Expenditure.
In Northern Ireland, two weeks of leave is provided for a woman and her partner, paid at the statutory level of just over £194 per week, or 90% of weekly pay if that is lower, and can be taken as one continuous block or as two separate weeks within 56 weeks of miscarriage, with no medical evidence required, reports RTE.
CAB, Transport and Housing also on agenda
Minister O’Callaghan will also ask colleagues to note the 2025 Annual Report of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien will ask Cabinet to note the Department of Transport’s annual report for 2025, which records how public transport services delivered a record 363.4 million passengers last year, reports RTE.
Minister for Housing James Browne will update Cabinet on the Mid-Year 2026 Progress Report on the Government’s housing plan, to be published later this week.
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless will ask Government to note the Quantum 2023 Implementation Plan, which details actions to support Ireland’s significant potential in key quantum technologies — used to address advanced computational problems and expected to transform sectors including healthcare, finance, manufacturing and climate science, reports RTE.
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