The proposed amendment of section 10 of the principal Act, to reduce the compulsory period of pre-confinement maternity leave by two weeks, effectively increasing the post-confinement period to 16 weeks, gives rise to the consequential amendment of section 16 of the principal Act which makes provisions for father's leave in the event of the death of the mother. The new section 9 of the Bill incorporates these consequential amendments. Accordingly, I propose to delete the existing section 9 and to insert an amended section 9 which removes the entire subsection (1A) and any consequential references to it.