Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I described, a range of measures are being taken to promote gender balance and diversity in local government, including supports through local authorities for women’s caucuses and political parties. Like the Senator, I recognise all those who have been involved in promoting this, whether in the Department, local government, the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, or any of the other the various councillor representative bodies, to make it happen, along with the Senator himself. Deputy Peter Burke has been a Minister of State very open to engaging and he has built on the work of Deputy Phelan, working with all stakeholders to try to get results and make things happen. It may have taken longer than it should have in regard to maternity leave and so on but I am glad the matter passed through Cabinet yesterday, which is really important.

The measures I mentioned also include supports to Women for Election, Longford Women’s Link and the National Women's Council of Ireland, which provide capacity-building and training services as well as policy research benefiting all women interested in entering local government. As I said, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, just yesterday secured Cabinet approval for proposals to provide maternity leave and supports for councillors, as well as cover in respect of votes or important decisions at local authority level and administrative support, as may be required, which should take some pressure off councillors who need maternity leave to look after a newborn. They will not feel as though they have to be there for all the meetings and votes and they will have a choice in that regard. To be clear, that should have been in place a long time ago and I am glad it has been secured. These measures are in addition to the significant reform of councillor remuneration introduced with effect from 1 July 2021, which places the role of councillor on a more financially sustainable footing and recognises their expanded role.

We continue to work with the sector on non-pay-related improvements to the role. It is the intention of the Government that through the funding schemes I have mentioned, alongside the holistic reforms being put in place such as maternity leave and supports, the role of the councillor can become truly achievable and sustainable for all, exactly as the Senator outlined. It should be an option for everybody, no matter who they are or where they are from. In that way, we will have elected councils that are more fully representative of the diverse communities they represent.