Sir, – Although Budget 2023 has included some laudable changes, such as the doubling of child benefit rates for November and the increase in maternity/paternity benefit, overall it falls short of providing the major changes that are truly needed to make a difference to the lives of women in unplanned pregnancies and their children. A fundamental reordering of the Irish social welfare system to reflect a pro-family and pro-child ethos is necessary.
The Pro Life Campaign’s pre-budget submission outlined a range of policy proposals which have seen successful implementation elsewhere in the EU.
This includes policies such as making a State-backed loan of €25,000 available to new mothers, the repayment rates of which are reduced after the birth of a second child and remitted completely after the third. Such a policy proposal would provide a very real support for new parents, particularly to secure accommodation or undergo necessary home renovations.
In the first three years of Ireland’s abortion law, there have been 21,000 abortions. Unfortunately, the Government has failed to take significant steps to decrease this alarming number.
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One step the Government should take is to urgently overhaul HSE My Options, which is failing to fulfil its promises of providing women in unplanned pregnancies with information on all their options.
Counsellors must be trained to provide women with information about positive alternatives to abortion when a woman asks about it. This is regrettably not happening at present.
No woman should ever feel that she has no option other than to have an abortion. – Yours, etc,
EILÍS MULROY,
Pro Life Campaign,
Dublin 2.