Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of his State and all his team who have worked on this. I particularly thank the subgroup, on which Councillor Lorraine Hall was the Fine Gael representative. I know she put an awful lot of work into it. It is to be hoped that it will have results from which she and many other women will benefit.

It is an important step forward. The Minister of State described it as a cultural change and that is what we absolutely need when it comes to politics. We know that women are underrepresented in politics across the board. Three out of four councillors are men. I was at the ploughing championships yesterday, where I chatted with members of See Her Elected. It is doing incredible work in supporting women who are interested in standing in local elections. The statistics, experiences and stories it has and shares are utterly depressing, however. There is a local authority with only one female councillor. We have to focus on changing that. One of the most important things we can do is to make sure that council chambers are welcoming spaces for women. Right now, young women thinking about starting a family do not fit in there because they would not have access to maternity leave which, as the Minister described, is a basic human right. This legislation is critical because it rectifies that. It is progressive and positive. In today's world, it should not be progressive, but it is. I say "Well done" to the Minister of State on taking that progressive step.

I am very glad to hear about the €230 a week that will go towards administrative support for women on maternity leave. Is the same allowance also extended to those on illness leave? It is really positive that illness leave is included in the Bill. Unfortunately, illness leave is something that many of us will require from time to time. At the moment, different local authorities treat councillors who need to take time off due to illness differently. That is not fair and there is no equity in it. This Bill will change that. It will deliver equity and fairness and standardise that situation.

I have a couple of questions on the logistics of the substitute. Head 8 states that the substitution comes to an end when the maternity leave ends. I welcome that because there is no ambiguity and there will be no disagreement in respect of people staying on in the role. Is it the same situation when it comes to illness benefit? How will that work?

Will the co-option process be the same as the current situation, which is that in the case of a councillor standing down for whatever reason, the name of the person the councillor or his or her party is nominating as a replacement goes to the full local authority for ratification? Ultimately, there is a vote. Local authority chambers operate in the same way as the Dáil Chamber. It is local democracy. There are ruling groups there as well. How will that work? Is that addressed in the legislation to ensure that no issues arise and to prevent councillors deciding not to allow the substitute in? When the substitution ends, is the original elected member automatically returned to the chamber? Does the person have to be co-opted onto the seat he or she won? I hope that is not the case. It does not seem that it will be the case, judging by the legislation, but it would be great to get clarity on it. I would not be comfortable with the idea that a person would effectively be removed from a role to which he or she was democratically elected. The legislation is written in such way that the nomination is made by the political party, and I plead with all political parties to respect the wishes of the woman taking maternity leave. If she is being replaced by a direct competitor, that will not make her maternity leave a less stressful time. I ask political parties across the board to consider the wishes of the woman going on maternity leave in that regard.

Those are my questions on illness leave in particular, and how the substitution process formally works.