Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and indeed all Deputies who came and participated in this debate. I greatly appreciate their interest, support and contribution. I especially thank them for the personal reflections they brought to the House. To reflect on one's own experience is not always an easy thing to do, particularly in a forum like this, but it does help tell those stories about why it is important. We tell the stories of our constituents, but to advance and evolve our democracy it is important to sometimes reflect on the personal experiences we have had. There is absolutely no point in coming in, pulling up the ladder and pretending it is easy to be here when it is not. We need to be honest with people and say we do it, we see these issues, we face the challenges, we get on and we try to fix them but we do it anyway and they can too. This is all about trying to bring more people into this Chamber, trying to be more inclusive and reaching out further and further.

We have had a very good parliamentary structure that has served us extremely well but our democracy is essentially always incomplete. There is always more to do and more that can be improved upon. It is naturally incomplete if half the population is not represented here in a reasonable way over time. That has never been the case and we need to take the steps we can to get to that point. Democracy, and our institutions of democracy, must keep pace with our need to reflect the will of our people and the things that are important to them. Where we find barriers we must take steps to try to address them. This is simply an effort to do that. I recognise how complex it is. I recognise the read-across constitutionally. I recognise the academic debate around it, that is, whether it is necessary, the read-across on the questions of parliamentary privilege and how that is linked. Deputy Howlin also mentioned that to me. It is, of course, part of the same conversation. My effort is to try to begin to tackle that initial barrier and ask what is it, at its core, that we must be here for that is perhaps a barrier to maternity, paternity and sick leave. The answer is, of course, voting. I hope nobody would take from this that I do not see it as important to be here. Being here and standing here is the privilege of my professional career. It is so enjoyable. It is such a privilege to be able to participate, to vote, to be part of the parliamentary structure and to serve constituents. At the same time, I recognise that for the institutions to evolve and become stronger and better and for more people to come easily into those structures they must be questioned, challenged and helped to evolve as time goes on. As the Minister of State, Deputies Bacik, Ó Snodaigh and others have said, these things must happen together. There is a confluence of events at the moment that requires, as Dr. Catherine Day said at the citizens' assembly, real seismic change around some of these issues. There is that opportunity but only if we take those points and run with them.

I noted what Deputy Richmond mentioned about the poll on thejournal.ie, which is interesting. Of course, it is easy to give a quick reaction to something like that, such as a quick question on whether you are in favour of or against something. The Deputy was talking about some of the comments on it. It is hard to see some of those and think people might believe we do not really want to do the work or that we are not very happy to be here. Of course we are. It is not about making life easier for politicians. It is about opening up the Parliament to more people and making it easier for them to be here. It is about opening up rather than trying to protect or serve ourselves.

We have had separate conversations about the need for more female representation and very strong debates on that to the effect that there must be more women in politics and that women in politics must be facilitated, and there was the debate around the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the particular challenges she faced as a Cabinet Minister. That is all very well but when one brings these measures to try to realise some of that ambition, and indeed when they are brought forward by women such as myself or Deputy Bacik as part of the committee or Dr. Day as part of the assembly, rationally, it is important those be supported or at least discussed in a serious way as steps. That is the debate we have had here. I greatly welcome it. It was a genuinely positive debate about an effort to be constructive. We will see how we can take it forward through Committee Stage. There is more debate to be had about the wording. I understand the complexity of that, including the concerns around the Attorney General and the read-across about other issues. Those are debates we can have and are open to having. I thank Members for facilitating the debate, for participating and for being as encouraging and supportive as they have been.

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