Local Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has welcomed the decision to end the exclusion of women returning from maternity leave from the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and described it as “a victory for common-sense”. Teachta Crowe said it will be a relief to many women that the government has finally accepted what Sinn Féin has been saying for weeks – that legislation was not required to deal with their exclusion from the payment.
Teachta Crowe said: “I welcome the decision of the government to do the right thing and end the exclusion of women returning from maternity leave from the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. It defied logic for the government to dig their heels in on the issue when everyone accepted that the exclusion of these women was unfair and amounted to discrimination. “This is a victory for common sense. “Sinn Féin had said a number of weeks ago that new legislation was not needed to deal with this issue and that all the Minister had to do was simply instruct the Revenue Commissioners to act – just as he had done to fix other problems with the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.
“It will be a huge relief to many women that the government has finally accepted what Sinn Féin and many others have been saying and has now agreed to deal with this problem. “This is a victory for common sense and comes as a direct result of women across the country speaking out and demanding an end to their exclusion.”
