Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. I very much welcome the Local Government (Maternity Protection and Other Measures for Members of Local Authorities) Bill 2022. It is very welcome legislation. I concur with my colleague, Deputy Farrell, who spoke about the replacement of the person who is elected. It should be up to the elected person to nominate whomever he or she - more than likely she - is. That is important. I ask the Minister of State to look at that because, on occasions when political parties get involved, it can become very messy and political and can often take the good out of what the Minister of State is doing here.

I know it is very important that council organisations, Oireachtas committees and other organisations thread into this legislation. It is very important that the Minister took a wide range of views from many organisations and people within the House and outside of it. I refer to the council representative organisations, in particular, because I know they have been looking for this for quite some time. I know it has taken years for us to get to this point.

In fairness, I was never a member of a local authority, so I will not speak with any experience of being one. Since Deputy Peter Burke's appointment as Minister of State, he has looked after councillors with this recommendation and also with other recommendations from the Moorhead report on remuneration, salaries and PRSI contributions for members of local authorities. Not only has the Minister of State talked the talk, he has walked the walk. That is welcome. I hope that members of local authorities appreciate the strides he has made over the last while.

I have been a Member of this House since 2002. Since I became a Member, we have talked about more female participation in elected office. There is no quick fix to this. We had the quota systems and the requirement that political parties will have to have more female candidates standing in the next general election than in the previous one, in 2020. I encourage political parties to get as many female candidates as possible for the local elections. It is a great grounding and start for any person to garner interest in politics. It has been difficult for parties to get candidates for local elections over the years. I hope the changes the Minister of State has made relating to remuneration will help parties to get more female candidates. When I approached a number of female candidates to stand for the party over the years, one of the biggest issues was social media abuse. Another issue was that they had children or they may have been starting off in life and wanted to have children. They saw that as a barrier. We should not have barriers if people want to stand for public office.

Other Deputies spoke about people from diverse backgrounds and people of colour standing for public office. Many people of colour from diverse backgrounds do not have the confidence to stand for local elections, European elections, general elections, Seanad elections or whatever else. It is important that we remove the barriers for them and make politics and political life a welcoming place for them. With the increased participation of women in this House, there is a different, balanced, open debate, and maybe subjects that we would not have debated previously are now being talked about. Having these debates in the House is telling in terms of how this country has changed socially and in every other way.

Public office is a difficult career but we often make it difficult for ourselves. I came into politics when I was elected 20 years ago, at 29 years of age. Deputy Farrell spoke about being 26 when he stood in the local elections. I have a fair idea of the answer I would get if I tried to get a 29-year-old woman to stand for the Dáil or local elections. They have careers and they may or may not want to have a family. They see the challenges and barriers.

I know the Minister of State is making reforms and wants to make further changes. I hope the Government supports him in the further changes that he wants to make. There have been good ideas and an exchange of views between all the political parties. As a country, we should be proud of our politicians. We have fantastic male and female politicians from all political parties. We might not always agree with their views, but many of them are seeking to do good for their community and so on. I had the privilege of being a Minister of State. I went around the country and saw the fantastic leaders of local communities across the country. Some may want to stand for political office. They should be encouraged to stand. It should be sold to them as a fantastic career. Some want to make a career of it. The abuse that people get on social media is unbelievable.

I listened to the debate about the refugee crisis and Ukrainian crisis on the radio this morning. Anyone who asks about refugees or the Ukrainian crisis is now seen as racist. An articulate lady was on the radio this morning. She made an articulate point that we should have a grown-up conversation about where we are going and the issues we have, so that we are not seen as racist if we raise issues. That is the way politics has gone. People are either for or against matters. There is no longer a middle ground. I think people do not get involved in politics because the middle ground is disappearing quickly, which is sad. If women with children receive media abuse, they do not only feel it themselves, but their families feel it for them.

It is sad that there are so many reasons that specific women do not get involved in politics. When the Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, first went on maternity leave, I did not think it was the perfect fix for another Minister to have to pick up the slack. I have no doubt that Deputy McEntee is still in tune with what is happening in the Department of Justice. I have no doubt that any female Minister who goes on maternity leave would continue to listen to the news and what is happening. We need a more permanent structure for women in the Dáil to take maternity leave. I do not know what that would involve but I think we should be more grown-up, have that conversation and not be afraid of the changes we can make. I believe this Bill is a start and there will be greater things to come.

I thank the Minister of State and his officials for bringing this important legislation before the House.

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