Officials examining plans to allow cancer patients to defer maternity leave

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman has instructed senior officials in his department to examine plans that would allow cancer patients to defer their maternity leave.

It is understood that the Minister is open to the proposal and agrees with the intention, but has asked officials to examine how it could be legislated for, and whether it would need to be a stand-alone bill or included as part of another piece of law.

“The Minister met with the Irish Cancer Society to discuss the proposals for a deferral to maternity leave where a person is undergoing cancer treatment. He subsequently requested his officials examine the proposal, including feasibility and legislative requirements, and it remains under consideration,” a spokesman for Mr O’Gorman said.

The Irish Cancer Society has estimated that every year, 60 women in Ireland go through a cancer diagnosis while pregnant or post-partum. These women are unable to defer their maternity leave when ill, so their maternity leave is spent receiving life-saving treatment, taking away from their time with the newborn baby.

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The society has said that it is “unjust” that men can defer their paternity leave if they are sick, but women cannot.

The Maternity Protection Act 1994 and the Maternity Protection Act 2004 provide a pregnant employee with six months of paid maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave, alongside other entitlements such as breastfeeding breaks.

Under that legislation, women can postpone maternity leave if the child is hospitalised.

[ ‘It’s not easy but it’s important to show that it can be done’: Helen McEntee rejects maternity leave criticism ]

Earlier this year, the Irish Cancer Society launched the Leave Our Leave campaign calling on the Government to change the Maternity Protection Act 2004.

Irish Cancer Society chief executive Averil Power said that mothers and their babies are being deprived of the special bonding time that maternity leave offers.

“Right now, there is no mechanism for them to defer the maternity leave until they are better,” said Ms Power.

As part of that campaign, women who were impacted by the law spoke out about their experiences of losing out on their maternity leave.

[ ‘Cancer humbles you and teaches you to value the little things in life’ ]

One woman, Emma McGuinness from Oranmore, Co Galway, described how she was in the early stages of pregnancy when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Her son, Ruairí, was born at 36 weeks and he spent two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit before going home.

A week later Ms McGuinness started chemotherapy, which she had every two weeks for six months.

“If I knew at the time that once my active treatment was over I would have six months of maternity leave, it would have saved me so much heartbreak, guilt and trauma,” she said.