Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being positive and complimentary about the Bill and I am delighted the Government will not oppose it. As Deputy Rabbitte said, it is the start of the conversation. At least we are talking about it now. I am delighted the Minister of State feels female participation in the Dáil adds to the atmosphere of the place and the debates. Women make up more than 50% of the population. We have gender quotas for ETBs and various boards. It is only right and proper that quotas would make the difference in politics. It may be something we can look forward to in local elections. When I was on Cavan County Council, there was one female member per party. We all start out on local authorities and all politics is local. If we are serious about getting women involved at that level, we need to consider gender quotas.

These proposals are not about getting time off. I remember doing an interview on a radio station about these proposals. The journalist asked why would we elect women for them to go off on maternity leave and be off for months. It is not about that. It is about human resources, HR, asking for a sick certificate and not acknowledging that somebody has the basic human right to have a baby. It is a precious and momentous time for people. To be asked for a sick certificate is quite insulting. I know HR does not mean that but it is one of those factual points that we do not recognise. The Bill is about recognising women in politics and what it entails. The reality on the ground is that Members will be in their constituencies. We are talking about being able to be close to our families and close to the new baby.

Women in politics can still do a certain amount of work. In my case, I was off for two weeks and then I was back at work here and in my constituency. It applies to all of us. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that a woman politician would be on maternity leave, but we all know she would still be doing the work and still picking up the telephone.

If we can recognise that as legislators, I do not believe the public would be in any way angry or annoyed about it, especially given that 51% of the population are women. It would represent encouragement. It would be a fantastic signal from the Parliament to acknowledge that women do not have to be in the autumn of their years to become politicians. They do not have to have done everything else or perhaps have tried politics in their spare time. They need not have their families reared and gone to college before doing this work. It is possible to juggle all of it together. That is the wonderful thing about men and women, especially in politics. On a positive note, we are jugglers. We are people who think outside the box. We are creative thinkers. We are well able to handle doing more than one thing at any one time. The Bill is about that and it is important to say that.

I am unsure what the answer to the question of the crèche is but we should bear in mind that the crèche does not really work for elected members. That is because of how we speak and debate late into the night. That is no bad thing either and I take the point of the Minister of State in that regard. I am from Cavan. It is doable for me to go home at night but it is not really practical and I can get far more work done here.

The point is that the Bill will start the conversation. We do not claim to have all the answers. It was good to see other politicians from other parties in the Chamber tonight. It is unfortunate that we did not have at least one representative from each political party or grouping, although some were represented. I am delighted that the Minister of State and Deputy Lawless as well as other male Deputies took part in the debate. I am glad that it has not been only a female discussion. That is important. One thing I have learned from my discussions is that we need the men to believe in this. It cannot simply be a question of women talking among themselves. We know this but we need the men to believe it and to buy into it. That is what will make it happen, whether it is gender quotas or increasing the number of female politicians. That is all important. If we can get the support of men for this, we can make a major difference and the next general election can illustrate the value in these measures from the Oireachtas. The Bill can make it possible and make it a reality, along with quotas and the introduction of a family-friendly environment. I thank Deputies for being here tonight.

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