Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have some points to make as well. I concur with Deputy Coppinger's points on maternity leave. It is not the mere fact that a female councillor does not get maternity leave; it is that if she misses a couple of meetings she is completely out of the loop. Local authorities move fast. A female councillor is not marked down as on maternity leave; she is marked down as absent. If there are votes, it is as if the councillor did not bother to turn up rather than that he or she is at home with a child, whether the father or the mother. I welcome the fact that this is the first Government to undertake such a review and to take these issues into account.

Many committee members were on councils for many years. I served with Senator Boyhan for a long time. I was 12 years on my local authority. I saw a major difference between the time I started and when I finished, in particular with the workload involved. I did not go to the opening of every envelope. I did not see that as my role. My role was to be at meetings but I made sure to do my work and research before I got there.

Councils deal with development plans and that creates the environment to develop a given area. It is up to the councillor to ensure he or she is informed to make proper and accurate decisions that do not have unintended consequences. It takes hours for councils to deal with development plans or economic plans. I fully accept that not everyone does that, and that it is a choice. I chose to do it full time as did Senator Boyhan while Deputy Casey gave it everything. It is a choice for the individual to make. I ran knowing that it was a part-time role and I fully accepted that. I knew what the remuneration was when I ran and we have to fully accept that. When a candidate makes a choice to run, she knows what she is running for. However, the role is underpaid and I accept that not everyone does the same hours. We also need to accept that the hours local authorities meet vary depending on where they are in the country. Even in Dublin, the four local authorities meet on different days and different hours. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council met in the evening. This meant a councillor could work during the day and attend meetings in the evening. Some councils meet during the day, which means councillors need time off work. We need to consider looking around the hours that committees and county councils meet to streamline it and make it more accessible.

It is important to make it more attractive to run for a local authority. That would strengthen the role of the local authority and the functions it has and the training required. In recent years, local authorities have changed dramatically. The focus was on taking the money away from training and conferences because of the allegation that people were abusing the system. Many councillors were not abusing the system and valued the training available. Those who did not abuse it valued it. However, not everyone did and that is out there.

To fulfil the role of councillor a person has to be accessible 24-7. Like Senators and Deputies, if a councillor is not accessible then people do not think that she is doing the job. Since the advent of mobile telephones, emails and text messages, a councillor is always following her job and always trying to keep on top of it. My local authority furnishes councillors with a telephone, laptop and printer. I presume that is the same in other local authorities. I can only speak from my experience, but when a councillor sought training in something it was provided.

The role of strategic policy committees could be strengthened. We see local authority members coming forward with housing plans. I know Deputy Coppinger said they were not doing anything, but they are. I completely disagree with that remark.