Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have an answer to the budgetary question so I will mention it to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, today and we will reply by email.

On the right to maternity leave for local councillors, that is being done. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, has the legislation for that ready. I am not sure whether it has been approved by Cabinet yet; it is hard to remember with the amount of things that come through Cabinet but I think it has been. We would plan to have that done as soon as possible and to have it ready for the next local elections in 2024, which are rapidly approaching. It is not just maternity leave; it also allows men to take time off because although it is not the norm, some men take time off to look after a young family and we need to facilitate that as well. It covers both men and women.

I think it will help encourage more women, and parents in general, to run for election and hopefully stay on as councillors. There is a high rate of attrition, with people resigning from the council because of other work or family commitments. The real issue is not so much one of payment as of who is the replacement. The idea is to have a system whereby an alternate or substitute who you nominate would replace you. We will probably need something similar for the Oireachtas because any Minister or Deputy can take six months off and receive full pay. The problem is there is nobody to step in for them. We need a model that allows that to happen.