Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We are trying to attract people into the profession. We are trying to attract members to represent society. We are looking at the terms and conditions for councillors. We need to look at the paternity and maternity leave, we need to look at all of the barriers. People are already sacrificing, potentially, part of their career. They are opting out, having to go to council meetings and having to turn up. The times of these meetings in different parts of the country may suit different people but generally they are held during the day. This means that anybody in a full-time job cannot do it. In this instance, maternity and paternity leave is absolutely something that should have been dealt with 20, 30 or 40 years ago. It is certainly the right thing to do. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will not be found wanting in this. I believe this House will unanimously endorse this.

Anybody who puts their name forward for public office does so because he or she wants to help and serve in the community. For anybody who is lucky enough to be elected in their area by their peers, friends and families, it is a huge honour to be a member of a local authority. Many of the Members, in fact almost all Members in this Chamber, were members of local authorities, some for many years and some for shorter periods. It is a wonderful thing to be elected and it is wonderful to be re-elected, but one must consider what they sacrifice. Many people do not realise that local authority councillors are out three and four nights per week. This can be party meetings, residents' group meetings, council meetings and meetings to discuss development plans and budgets. Some people, maybe even some Members in this House, thought that being a councillor was only going to take a couple of meetings per month. They realise that it is much more than that, and to get re-elected it is certainly much more than that.

This is the least we can do for our councillors. It is part of the journey towards making a councillor's position one that people feel they can do, and for which work they would be acknowledged. Very few people become councillors for the money because it is generally an opportunity or cost foregone. I was a member of the old Dublin regional authority. Many people left that because they could not afford to do the work anymore. They were losing too much time out of work, using up all their holidays, taking too much time off and losing time with their families. If we want people involved, and we do want and need them to be, then this is the least we can do. I thank the Minister of State for his time. I thank Senator O'Loughlin and all of the Senators who put this motion forward. I hope the issue can be resolved sooner rather than later.