Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a few questions that have been passed on to me by councillors around the country but I will first make a point about other women who do not get access to maternity leave because I sometimes feel this debate can be very focused on politicians. When I tell people I am going on maternity leave they say that, as a politician, I do not get access to maternity leave and support. The reality is that I will get paid support for 26 weeks and access to my full salary. There are many women in this country who do not have access to their full salary or support if they are not in public sector employment, particularly women who are self-employed. While it is very worthwhile implementing these measures, we must recognise that there are barriers for women in other industries.I would love to see a system put in place whereby women who run their own business or are self-employed get support for going on maternity leave and do not simply get statutory maternity leave. That is an important point to make.

We have very far to go in terms of the rights of all women and of not presuming that every woman is a public sector worker who gets her full salary or is employed in one of the bigger industries, is well-paid and gets full salary when she goes on maternity leave. I would like to see supports put in place particularly for women who are in the home, unemployed and looking after children or adults so they also can take their time to look after a newborn baby. I think the same applies. Not all work is paid. That is an important point to make in terms of what we are doing.

This is very welcome. On many occasions during my 11 years as a member of a local authority, I have been left holding the baby, so to speak, for colleagues who came in to vote on various matters or who had to attend statutory meetings. Inevitably, it is always colleagues who support them. I have been in situations whereby women with newborn babies who should have been at home felt obliged to be present in the council chamber.

It was very interesting when Deputy Wynne had to bring her baby into the Dáil one evening to vote. Some people were calling it a mark of progress. I do not think it was a mark of progress because no breastfeeding mother should have to bring her child into one of the Houses after hours. Deputy Wynne should have been facilitated and supported to be at home to do that.

I want to make another point about some of the facilities that we have available to us in the Oireachtas. We have the Oireachtas crèche. I am luck enough that I will be able to get a place in September. However, some Members have been told that they will not be able to get places. In addition, the place is for five days each week. That is fine for people in Dublin, but this Seanad and the Dáil contain representatives from all over the country who have to come up here for two or three days. They should be facilitated to be able keep their children with them after the period of maternity leave ends and be able to put them in the crèche on a part-time basis. That is a barrier, particularly for Members from rural areas. While we are passing this very good legislation, which is only a start, we have to look at the other structures in the Oireachtas and how we support people coming from all over the country. I would like the Oireachtas crèche to be able to offer part-time childcare over the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to people coming up from the country in order that they can spend as much time as possible with their children, particularly if they are small babies. It is only 26 weeks that we get.

Can the Minister of State confirm that if a councillor requests an absence for leave for whatever reason, then on each occasion on which something is voted on by the local authority, there will be no pressure that person to come back in after a month to vote, particularly if it is an important local matter? If that happens, will it mean that the temporary substitute will be deemed to no longer be a substitute? Does it have to pass each local authority meeting at each stage? I just want some clarification on that.