Dáil debates

Thursday, 31 May 2018

Maternity Protection (Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members]

 

7:05 pm

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. As he realised from the beginning, I admitted it was not a perfect Bill. The most important point was the conversation and get that work going in itself. I find that everything is rigid in the Dáil and it is hard to get a space for a conversation about broader issues which impact on so many more. It is quite crude to introduce a Private Members’ Bill to have the conversation but I did not know how else to start it. The most encouraging point was that everybody, all parties and none, supports, welcomes and wants to work together on this proposal.

I hope the chairman of the Oireachtas justice committee - maybe Deputy Ó Laoghaire could have a word with him - would get it to scrutinise the Bill and make suggestions as to how we can progress it. Deputies Brady and O’Reilly made positive comments about the Bill which made sense. The Bill is about common sense. We set the law for everybody else but we discriminate against female Members. That does not wash with me. We need to start there and see how we can do it.

The Minister of State said there is a bigger conversation to be regarding by-elections, how we do pairings and how if one is out of the Chamber, one is not working in the constituency against one’s other colleagues working here. These have to be set out. We could look at remote voting through an app whereby one would have to sign through the ICT unit, although it is difficult to log on in the constituency office because of the firewall and so on. However, everybody might want to vote remotely then and not show up here.

While the conversation and the input were very good, it is a pity we did not have more participants in the debate. It is a conversation that needs to go in the right direction. However, we are talking out the two sides of our mouths. We want more women in politics but if one gets elected there is no way one can have a family progression. We have no mechanism for supporting female Members other than producing the sick certificate. While one produces the sick certificate, one has to run in here for votes on a Thursday and if numbers are tight, one has to show up. I do not know how the system would operate if one were an Independent Member. Parties might be able to do pairings and accommodate Members but I do not how it could work for Independent Members.

It is important to acknowledge, as Deputy O’Reilly said, the good work the staff do here, including staying with us late at night. I have heard the Oireachtas crèche is full and it is quite difficult to get a child into it. It also has a set closing time at 7 p.m. What should Members do with the kids after it closes? Do we hide them under the desks? We have to come up with solutions and provide support.

I thank the Minister of State for his positive comments on the Bill. I am not of a legal mind myself but I am well-intentioned. Any support the other side of the House can give us as to how best to underpin and bring on this legislation, I would welcome.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.