Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to introduce the Bill to the Seanad. The Bill has completed its passage through the Dáil and I am keen to have it enacted as early as possible. I thank all Deputies in the Lower House who aided the progression of the Bill to this Stage, as well as Senators for their constructive support and input into pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill.

It is always heartening to work in a collegial way with colleagues of all parties and none to make politics more inclusive. I believe that this Bill, short as it is, signifies a key legislative change that will give elected members of local authorities, not before time, a statutory entitlement to maternity leave.

I acknowledge the positive co-operation of the Ministers for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and Social Protection and their officials in progressing the Bill to this Stage. I also acknowledge the vital contribution made by councillors, to whom I listened carefully as I developed this policy and legislative approach. I do not need to remind Senators, many of whom have a background in local government, that Ireland has a low rate of female participation in local government. Most recently, in the 2019 local elections, only 24% of the available council seats were filled by women. While a record 562 women contested the elections, up from 440 in 2014, they only made up 28% of candidates.

The lack of prescribed maternity leave for elected members has been identified as one of the obstacles to the participation of women in local government. Currently, to avail of a period of absence following the birth of a child, section 18 of the Local Government Act 2001 is used, providing that an elected councillor shall be deemed to have automatically resigned from membership of a local authority if he or she is absent from meetings for a continuous period of six months. Where the absence is due to illness or “in good faith for another reason”, then the period of absence may be extended first to 12 months and then up to 18 months. This process requires a resolution to be passed by the relevant local authority sanctioning the request for an extended absence. This mechanism is not specifically designed for councillors who seek leave to take care of their newborn child, and provisions of this Bill will allow for the separation of maternity leave for councillors from such terms as “illness” or “in good faith for another reason”. The provisions of the Bill will mean female councillors can avail of formal statutory maternity leave without having to be shoehorned into phrases such as “illness” or “in good faith for another reason”.

Similar to Members of the Oireachtas, local authority members are officeholders rather than employees. As such, councillors are not covered by the statutory framework for employees on issues such as maternity leave, sick leave and annual leave. The Maternity Protection Act 1994 is the primary legislation giving effect to statutory maternity leave, such leave being applicable to employees rather than officeholders. This is where the legislative lacuna arises. The Bill gives legislative effect for the first time to an entitlement to maternity leave for local authority elected members equivalent to the entitlement for employees under the Maternity Protection Act 1994. It was raised time and again as part of our engagement with representative groups and stakeholders that the role of elected members is distinctive in that it is difficult to step back from the role for a significant period, including the taking of maternity leave.

Councillors should never feel pressured either to remain in the role or to attend periodic council meetings when the priority should be to take care of a newborn baby. To this end, I am inserting a provision in the Bill for the possibility of the appointment by co-option of a person as a temporary substitute for an elected member who avails of maternity leave. To safeguard equality of treatment, Government has agreed to extend this temporary substitute opportunity to all members who are absent due to illness or other good faith reason having regard to section 18 of the Local Government Act 2001.

I have included in this draft legislation the innovative provision that a local authority must have regard to the preferred choice of the member causing the absence as to who should be the temporary substitute. This builds upon, strengthens and goes one step further than existing similar provisions in respect of the filling of casual vacancies and I hope and expect that the spirit of this provision will be respected by all local authorities and by those from all parties and none.

Subsection 16(5) of Schedule 10 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that: “The Minister may issue... directions to local authorities in relation to standing orders and the provisions to be included in them.” While I would not like to make such directions in standing orders, should anecdotal evidence suggest that the preferred choice of an elected member is being overlooked, I will draft directions to remedy the situation.

Additionally, as part of a broader range of maternity-related supports, an allowance for administrative supports will be available to female elected members to support any period of statutory maternity leave. To this end, my Department is drafting supporting regulations and I am happy to engage with this House on those regulations.

It is intended that the amount of the administrative support payable to councillors will be linked to the latest salary scale for administrative assistants provided to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I expect that the amount of the allowance payable to an elected member will be up to €235.43 per week, which is one third of the first point of the salary scale for an Oireachtas administrative assistant. This reflects the administrative support role being no more than 13 hours per week.This Bill aims to address the specific obstacle of access to statutory maternity leave and also provide additional supports to elected members in an inclusive manner. In progressing the Bill to this stage, I recognise the extensive consultation that has been undertaken and the invaluable input from all stakeholders. In April 2021, a cross-party working group of women councillors was established and asked specifically to examine maternity-related matters for elected members. The group met a number of times and gave a more rounded understanding of the needs of women councillors in respect of maternity supports. The group reinforced the need for maternity leave and additional supports for councillors but also advised that as much flexibility as possible in availing of these supports was critical.

The Department also engaged with councillor representative organisations, with the Association of Irish Local Government in particular submitting detailed policy proposals on the substantive issues in the Bill. The Department has also engaged with women’s groups involved in promoting the participation of women in local government, notably the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Women for Election and See Her Elected. My Department has also engaged on this issue with the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality considering the recommendations in the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality.