The party leader, Lina Pereira, stated that over a dozen professionals are currently facing this situation, with some only able to return to work after the school year ends and now finding themselves without childcare options.
The specific risk allowance is a financial support provided to pregnant women, recent mothers, or breastfeeding women who cannot work because their jobs pose a risk to their health and safety.
These professionals are now being contacted to return to work and join other services where their safety is not jeopardized, explained the JPP leader.
However, the party contends that this is an “unacceptable violation by a public health entity,” emphasizing that “one of the arguments in favor of these mothers relates to the prior authorization granted by the services,” as stated in a press release sent to the newsrooms.
In the statement, the JPP mentions that the matter is already under review by lawyers and accuses Madeira’s Regional Health Service of “playing with people’s lives.”
“Anyone with babies knows the difficulty of securing nursery spots outside the so-called ‘normal’ period without prior registration. Obviously, these mothers had an approved leave and, therefore, did not enroll their babies in the nursery and organized their lives according to the availability granted by law and the services,” stresses Lina Pereira, as quoted in the note.
The party president also hopes that, with the new Regional Government taking office, resulting from a post-election agreement between the PSD and the CDS-PP, these situations will be swiftly resolved by the new regional health secretary, Micaela Freitas, who will replace the current head, Pedro Ramos.
In the regional elections on March 23, where the PSD won without an absolute majority, the JPP secured 11 seats, surpassing the PS, which garnered eight, becoming the largest opposition party in the Madeira parliament.
