Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues, who are members of a panel with which you are quite familiar, a Chathaoirligh, on bringing forward this proposal. This is a useful debate. This Chamber works in a very collegial way, and having debates on these issues that have cross-party support is an important way of doing business. It speaks to the broader principle of the importance of our getting good people into local government.

I was very struck by a series of interviews "This Week" on RTÉ Radio 1 did around the time of the local elections in 2019 with those who had been first-time councillors, some of whom were very capable young councillors and who, after one term, had decided to quit. In most jobs, if you decide to quit, there is an exit interview. There is no real formal exit interview process in politics, bar, obviously, the electorate making its decision. Questions have to be asked about the many people deciding to quit after one term. One of the reasons is that the workload continues to increase. It is funny that in this Chamber we talk about the right to switch off. Councillors and other elected representatives in many ways do not have the right to switch off. Because of social media in particular, they are switched on 24-7 and there is an expectation that they respond immediately. We have seen the increase in online abuse.

Another reason is the question of parental leave and support for those who wish to become parents while serving in elected office. We have to rethink radically the career of the councillor. It cannot be an either-or in that people have to choose between spending time having children and bringing up a family and devoting themselves to the local community, no more than it should be a challenge for national politicians. Senator Ó Donnghaile is correct that this is a live debate in many other European countries. Sweden is possibly the most progressive in that all elected representatives are entitled to 480 days' paid leave and 90 days can be allocated to each parent. Similar moves have been made in Canada and other jurisdictions.

We need to consider this in the context of the electoral commission legislation coming forward. Could we consider not just parental leave but also substitute members stepping in to do the work? Often there is a fear on the part of elected members that if they take time out, their rivals will gain ground on them and they will have a huge workload when they come back. They ask how they will be able to catch up in those circumstances. Therefore, in the same way that if somebody steps down from a local authority, his or her political party or somebody else nominates somebody to take his or her place, we should have a provision that, during parental leave, a substitute member may be put in place on the part of that elected representative. That could apply in a broad range of areas, for instance, when it comes to compassionate leave or somebody who has health difficulties. People should not feel they have to sacrifice their entire lives outside of politics to be able to go on. I think the Minister is very much committed to real local government reform, but that has to be about more than just looking at the structures and the powers. It has to be about how we can ensure that we have a diverse, representative local and national parliament and that we get the best people and as diverse a group of people as possible into politics. That includes ensuring we have family-friendly measures and parental leave and ensuring that if people go on parental leave, they in no way feel their political careers will suffer as a result.

I will make just one other point. It is a more general point about these Houses. We often talk about a family-friendly environment. It is completely unfair, not just on elected Members but also on the staff, that the Houses of the Oireachtas sit late into the night, by which I mean after 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.. In addition, after a long day's work, people are cranky and not necessarily as focused. We, therefore, need to reconsider seriously the sitting hours of these Houses. They are not conducive to good legislation or family-friendly. This is a welcome debate, however, and I commend the proposers of the motion.