Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for all the times he has come in since the start of this Seanad. I appreciate his engagement with Members, both in Seanad Éireann and through his work with local authorities.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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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.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to speak about to us. This is ground-breaking legislation because it is about ensuring we get gender-balanced representation within our local authorities across the country. I know the Minister of State has done a mountain of work on this over the past year or two years. I very much appreciate the fact that there has been a consultation group, namely, the cross-party working group that was set up last year to ensure voices are heard, particularly of women, who are councillors and have faced these challenges.

As a councillor elected to Galway County Council, I was the first female coming into my Ballinasloe municipal district. That is not to say there are not excellent men - of course there are. There are excellent men in all walks of life. There are also excellent women and, unfortunately, their voices sometimes do not get heard.

We are making sure that the barriers are removed to ensure women will want to consider a life of public service. When you think about it, women would be the most natural representatives and a perfect fit for a role in public service when it comes to empathy, compassion, the care roles and the roles most women usually have from the experience of looking after children and their parents. This is across the board. We need to hear that voice.

Ireland lags behind in terms of female representation. It has been acknowledged at national and international level. We need to ensure we support women in many different ways. This is one measure the Government is taking now. The Minister of State has taken the reins along with his team and officials and looked at this. Having a co-optee - somebody who can come in on a temporary basis while a woman is out on maternity leave - is a really great way to operate. It is crucial for somebody on sick leave or extended sick leave.

There are probably far more ways this Government can support women. I know there are a lot of groups like Women For Election that support women to come forward. How do all public representatives and the Government engage at very young levels? How do we do this in transition year and when young men and women are going to college so that women are seen as natural leaders? We have taken big steps when it comes to boards of companies with the 30% rule. We have all the State boards on which we are seeking to ensure women are represented. These are decision makers and leaders. We need to see that start at a very young age. Our student councils are a great way of doing this. Our student councils are a fantastic way of bringing forward students at a young age to get experience of representing their schools.

I highlight the difference between urban and rural. We sometimes have far more female representatives from our city centres. There seems to be far more women who come through the natural process of county councils, bringing representatives for our large city centres. I do not know if that is the case in rural areas. Making that breakthrough is far more challenging in some of our smaller towns and rural constituencies. Speaking as someone from a rural area, I understand that there is a tradition in these areas. Even in my local area, there is a tradition of men taking the lead in our sports clubs. Perhaps people come into politics through a background in sports. They become leaders in that way, become well known and suddenly they are a natural fit for becoming a public representative. We also need to look at how we encourage, balance and support women in all walks of life, show them that more women can be public representatives and that it is a matter of pride and support women when they do that.

The challenge we sometimes face, and this is probably not within our remit, is making sure all doors are open when someone does come forward. When it comes to communication and social media, women can sometimes be targeted. Safeguards should be put in place for women in those situations.

I would love if we could have a review of this legislation in a year or two years time to see its impact. Are we seeing more women in the next local elections coming through? Will this be a real deal-breaker for some of them? I would also like to hear their feedback. It has been fantastic to see the work done by the Department.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his role in respect of local government over the past two and a half years. He has probably been the most effective Minister for local government and councillors in a very long time, particularly regarding how he has respected the role of local government in our democracy. The pay rise was very much welcomed by councillors around the country along with the supports the Minister of State put in place for them to do their work.

This Bill is yet another support mechanism that is particularly geared towards women. There are challenges facing women when it comes to getting into politics but they can be overcome. This legislation deals with the issue of pregnancy but there are many women in business who find that when they do go into local government, getting time off for meetings and trying to fit local government tasks in with running a business are pretty difficult. Let us not make any bones about it. This is a difficult job and it is more difficult for women.

There are some concerns regarding co-option and the person who may take over the position. Some people say it is eroding the democratic will of the people. I can tell them it is not. I have first-hand experience of co-option. If co-option is put in place for the people who are going to do the work on the ground for the people, they will respect that decision made by the councillor who needs the co-option. I welcome the legislation. It is another Bill that breaks down the barriers for women and I thank the Minister of State for it.

Rebecca Moynihan (Labour)
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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.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I will try to speak to the issue at hand and not to every single issue under the sun relating to women. This will probably be one of the best pieces of legislation ever passed. It will go down in history. I thank the Minister of State on behalf of all women in Ireland.

Becoming a councillor is often the first step to getting everywhere else, namely, to the Seanad or the Dáil. This is momentous win for the women of Ireland - and for the men as well - because they have been carrying the can for far too long. We are happy to take on a bit more responsibility if we get the chance. This maternity leave legislation will make a massive difference. As a single parent, I felt I could not take on the role until my child was reared. Doing so just seemed impossible. This is a monumental occasion. Of course, there are many other issues that the Opposition likes to bring up that are not relevant to this.

The Minister of State started the process relating to this legislation. In March 2021, he set up an all-female working group to examine the provision of maternity leave for county and city councillors. It is great. In Clare alone, we have three female councillors out of 28. I am not easily intimidated, but I found it very intimidating when I served as a councillor. It was only when I came into the Seanad and saw many women - we have a good representation of females in the Seanad compared with the Dáil or local authorities - that I realised how it makes you feel when you are in a room that is mainly occupied by men. I would not have been aware of that until I experienced being in a political atmosphere with many women alongside me. It affects us, no matter how confident or unintimidated we think we are.

This legislation very important. When trying to get people to think about running for local elections - I have been talking to different women - they just could not see how it would be possible in the absence of this legislative change. This maternity leave is huge. More and more women realise that they have to stand up and that their voices need to be heard in every chamber. Without maternity leave, that would not be possible. This is a good day for women and men in Ireland, and a good day for young people to see that we value women as much as men and they will need maternity leave because of all of the things that go with it. We need breastfeeding rooms in every single local authority, not, “Oh we have breastfeeding supports in the toilet or the disabled toilet.” I have often been shown the disabled toilet as the place where I could have breastfed my son. That is not good enough.

Women can come back to work if there are supports in the workplace around breastfeeding. They can take the maternity leave, but such supports would also empower them to come back to work. Many friends of mine have to find a toilet to express milk, for instance, in the middle of the working day. They have to sit in a toilet to do that, which is just backward. Breastfeeding is the best thing you can do for your child. We need proper facilities. It is not good enough anymore to expect a woman to hide herself away in order to express milk. Many women find it very depressing to sit and hide away when doing the most natural thing in the world. Supports in this regard will have to follow on from the provision of this maternity leave. That will increase the ability of women to come back to work as well. Women want choices. We do not all need to take maternity leave for the time we can. Some of us need to take it for longer and some of us could come to work sooner if there were better supports in the context of breastfeeding and expressing milk.

It is a good day and this a good Bill. We are improving matter slowly. It would be great to see more women running in elections for local authorities. We need them. Everybody needs them. It is not just a case of women can do better; we are equal to men. This is a very good day, and I appreciate this Bill. For men, even if they are feminists, it might be hard to understand how important it is. The experience women have when it comes to trying to juggle being a mother and going back to work is phenomenal. It is brain-melting trying to figure out how you are supposed to do it all. Now we can have women who will feel that they will be able to stand for election and be supported in the job of a county councillor, which, up until the advent of this Bill, they have not been. I hope it will encourage many more women to step up and join us in trying to have gender balance at every level of politics in Ireland. It could make a huge difference. Why should you not get maternity leave if you need to be with your child when you also want to be a politician?

I thank the Minister of State for this legislation. We have not always agreed on everything, but this is a very important day. He should be proud of himself. I will call the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, a feminist from today on.

Ar son mhná na hÉireann, is lá iontach agus stairiúil é seo. Má thugtar an deis seo do mhná, b’fhéidir go n-athróidh sé gach rud. I firmly believe that if we had more women involved in things, we would have fewer wars and less destruction of the planet. Many things would be done better if we had gender balance. It would be better for men and women. The patriarchy has never served men or women well. We have been fitted into stereotypes that do not suit anybody. Many males struggle with the patriarchy as well. This Bill has definitely opened a chink in that old historic armour around the patriarchy. I thank the Minister of State very much for his work on it.

Frances Black (Independent)
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I congratulate the Minister of State on the Bill. It is definitely long overdue and it is very welcome. Credit to the Minister of State and his Department for all their work on the Bill.

The swiftness of this Bill’s journey through the Oireachtas signifies both the importance of the legislation and the broad support for it that exists in the Houses.It is rare for us all to be in agreement but I am glad it is recognised collectively that we need to make structural changes to make space for women to participate equally in public life.

I congratulate the many present and future councillors whose lives will be changed by the provision of maternity leave. So many women councillors have been campaigning for this change for many years. Many of them have had to contend with the challenges of being new mothers and have had to resume council duties almost immediately after the birth of their children, which placed a huge strain on them and their families. This pressure is felt most acutely by women councillors who are independent or representing small parties. Sometimes they are the only councillors of their political persuasion represented in a council chamber. If they are absent from the council chamber, their perspective goes entirely unheard. I commend the determination and commitment to public service shown by these councillors, but no one should be expected to make that kind of sacrifice.

I hope this legislation will encourage women who have not previously thought about standing for election to consider it ahead of the 2024 local elections. There are women all over this country who have fresh ideas and perspectives that can be brought to bear to improve their areas and serve their communities. If they are tuning in to this debate, I encourage them to get involved. It may seem like a totally impossible idea but everything feels impossible until it is done. Politics needs more reluctant politicians and it needs more women.

Only 24% of local councillors are women. Entering such an overwhelmingly male environment can be extremely daunting, even when so many of the men make concerted efforts to be welcoming and inclusive. More needs to be done to fully incorporate women into political life. It is important that political parties nominate more women candidates and ensure their female members are protected from discrimination and harassment. The timing of council meetings in the evenings is understandable because most councillors also have other jobs that take up their time during typical office hours. However, evening meetings can impede the participation of women, who are more likely to have caring responsibilities on top of their paid work. I acknowledge it is a complicated area and certainly do not have all the answers, but I believe the possibilities created by the widespread adoption of video-conferencing technology might need to be explored further. Politics works best when it is truly representative, and government at local and national levels should reflect the people it serves.

I hope the energy and momentum surrounding the push to provide maternity leave for councillors inspires action to make maternity leave available for Members of the Oireachtas. Women are serving at all levels of our politics and it is important that structural changes be made to enable their full and equal participation. This is a good opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, on the birth of her son. Her taking time off is an incredibly brave and inspiring step towards a more modern and inclusive form of politics; however, she can take leave because she is a member of a major party and a Minister in a Government with a solid parliamentary majority. More needs to be done in this area.

Twenty-three percent of Deputies are women. That is half the rate in Sweden, which has a 46% female Parliament. Sweden has a system of maternity leave for Members of Parliament whereby women can co-opt someone for the duration of their leave. This means constituents are represented, perspectives are expressed and Members of Parliament can take the time to bond with and care for their babies. I would replicate this model in Ireland. It is claimed that there is a constitutional barrier to the provision of maternity leave to Members of the Oireachtas. If that is the case, we are fortunate to have a Constitution that can be amended by the people. The Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality is already looking into how to amend the Constitution to make it more representative of women’s equal status. The Article 41 reference to women’s position in the home stands out as the most problematic and antiquated feature of the Constitution, and the Government has committed to addressing this. Concurrent referenda on Article 41 and maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas would comprise an effective and worthwhile programme of constitutional reform.

I agree with Senator Moynihan that we have to highlight that there are barriers for women. I totally agree on women working in other industries. We have to be mindful that people in the music industry, for example, do not get maternity leave, which can be very difficult.

I reiterate my congratulations to the Minister of State and all the councillors who have campaigned for this change. They have made Irish politics a more inclusive and hospitable place for women. This is a major achievement. The Minister of State and his Department should be very proud of what they have achieved today. Ireland has made extraordinary progress in the field of gender equality in recent decades but those achievements should not bring on complacency. Instead, they should inspire us to continue to fight for a truly equal and feminist republic.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call on Senator Fitzpatrick, I welcome her son Jack Cody. He is most welcome to Seanad Éireann. His mother is about to speak so he should pay attention.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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That will be a first.

A Aire Stáit, maith thú. Comhghairdeas. Well done. This is a really good day. Is lá iontach agus stairiúil é. I am a woman like many other women and men who have put themselves forward to represent their communities. Our local government is the cornerstone of our democracy. If we do not have a vibrant, strong, well-functioning local government, our democracy is undermined. We are all willing to do anything we can to support our local elected members and local authorities.

It is a great day that the Government and Oireachtas are ensuring that all local authority members will have access to maternity leave. I acknowledge that and thank the Minister of State for it. When we acknowledge our progress, we must recognise and never forget how long it has taken us to get here. Our local government system dates from 1890. It has been updated over the years. I have had three pregnancies, like many others. Pregnancy and parenthood are uncertain, unknown journeys. None of us knows what we are embarking on when we become parents. It can be incredibly rewarding and challenging, but what is really important is that people are supported in every respect, including to have healthy and happy lives, and feel supported in getting on with the daily challenges. The people who put themselves forward to represent their local communities need to be supported. That is what this legislation will do. In most other occupations, it is a given. There are very few jobs that anybody would apply for that would not come with maternity leave or basic workers’ rights.

I commend all the organisations that have worked to get us to this point. I commend the councillors who have served their time and communities. I commend their representative groups: AILG and LAMA. I commend all the non-governmental organisations, such as the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Women for Election, which work quietly daily to promote and champion our democracy and, most important, participation therein. The role of the local authority member is often belittled and ridiculed. It is one we disrespect at our peril because local authority members are the ones closest to our communities and who understand most those communities’ needs, wants and ambitions. They are the ones best served to inform us all. Maith thú, a Aire Stáit, agus comhghairdeas leis an Rialtas. I look forward to this legislation being used by generations of women in the future. As Senator Black said, there will be local elections in 2024. I hope the legislation will encourage more participation in them.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Seven Senators are offering to speak and there are 14 minutes remaining. I have to call the Minister of State at 11.24 a.m. I suggest that every Senator have two minutes. I call Senator Currie, who is to be followed by Senator Boyhan.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State. We really appreciate all the work he has put into this. He has made it and the Moorhead report a priority from the moment he took office. In that spirit, I thank the councillor representative groups – AILG and LAMA – and Women for Election, which do an excellent job.I see the Minister of State is very much supportive of their work with funding; and the working group of councillors and our own councillor, Lorraine Hall, for all the work that she has done. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy McEntee. I hope we can find a resolution for Ministers, Deputies and Senators.

What I like about this legislation is that it ensures that councillors are taken in under the Maternity Protection Act, that it is recognised as maternity leave and that the legislation is being amended with all the security of employment, and they are being treated like employees. The Local Government Act has been amended to remove the requirement for them to be subject to section 18(4A) or 18 (4B), so that they do not have to ask permission to go on maternity leave. The temporary absence piece of this has been introduced as well.

This legislation makes sure that the individual gets access to maternity leave, but the bigger picture is the impact it is going to have on women in politics, because we have a major issue with getting women onto the ballot paper. They are underrepresented. Our PR system is a competitive one, but it does mean that it is a very hard decision for any parent, especially women, that politics does come first. That is probably the biggest barrier for women going into politics. This legislation helps because it is the entitlement side of things but the Minister of State has also brought in the supports. That is what is making the meaningful difference in terms of the struggle to juggle, with the administrative support and the substitution. I will get on to my questions now, I am sorry.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I will have to cut off other colleagues if I cannot get everybody in who wants to speak. Seven speakers are offering, and I want to get everybody in.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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Okay. There were questions in the Irish Examineryesterday from a former Senator, Councillor Joanna Tuffy, about Article 28A of the Constitution. I will follow up with any other questions I have for the Minister of State afterwards.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I note the Cathoirleach's ruling about the two minutes. I will take that time. I cannot thank the Minister of State enough. He has been a real champion of councillors. I do not just say that here today. That is the case on a whole range of fronts. It is important that is acknowledged. He was a councillor himself and therefore he has come up through the system. I genuinely thank him for that. He has worked constructively with members of parties and none across the Houses, but also in local authorities. That is something that has been recognised. I know the Minister of State has had a lot of ongoing work with the AILG and LAMA, and they appreciate it.

I thank the civil servants behind the Minister of State. I am familiar with them. They know me and we know each other. We have had a lot of exchanges over many things. I am fully supportive of this initiative. I am fully supportive of bringing more women into politics, but I do not just want them to run for the local council. I want them to run in the general election. I want to fill the Seanad with women. I want them to be elected.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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Hear, hear.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Fine Gael did not elect one woman to the Seanad. That was a disappointment but, how and ever, the Taoiseach nominates 11 and the party nominates ten. I genuinely acknowledge the very substantial contribution by all of the ten women in the Seanad. That is fantastic. I like competition; it is good for politics. Hopefully, we will bring people up through local government and they will then come through, compete in the general election, then in Seanad elections and we will have a big turnover of Senators. Let us see it all the way through, not only half the way and stop. It is a full cycle and I wish it every success.

I thank the Minister of State for his work. He has done a fantastic job. I hope he will still be in local government after next Saturday because he has done an amazing job. What is more important, he has united people across the spectrum. One takeaway from all of this is that we should be mindful that we must not erode the powers of councillors. We have the Land Development Agency. We have An Bord Pleanála and planning. We have come from communities, community groups and community action groups. I know most Members here have been involved. Let us continue to support them. We will be challenged in the coming weeks. Let us see if people stand up for local councils then.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I also welcome this piece of legislation. I agree with Senator Boyhan and others that a lot has been achieved in the past two years. Sadly, very little was achieved in previous years so he was starting from a very low base, but this is very welcome, as are the other measures.

I support Senator Moynihan's view that we need a much broader debate on maternity leave across the public sector, in politics and every other aspect of society. We must do much more to get minority, diverse and disabled voices into local government as well. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough people with declared disabilities in local government. If people with disabilities get elected to local government there is a better chance they will become Members of the Oireachtas. That is the route I came. I was lucky enough to get elected to local government. I spent eight years there and I made the transition to this House. That would not have happened had I not been a member of Clare County Council. The more we do on the ground to support people from minority backgrounds, Traveller backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities, to become members of county councils, the better chance we will have of more diverse, equal and representative Seanad and Dáil Chambers.

The Minister of State must consider a lot of measures. He must consider providing grants for people with disabilities so that they have a level playing pitch and can campaign. There are people who use wheelchairs and other aids to assist them, people who cannot drive and who are automatically at a disadvantage when it comes to campaigning, before they ever get onto a ballot paper and get elected.

The Minister of State must seriously consider a diversity quota of 10%. Approximately 10% of the population have a disability. Probably another 5% to 10% come from a minority background. If we even started with a 10% quota and that political parties would have to run 10% of their candidates from a diverse, minority, disability background, it would end up producing a result.

This is a very welcome piece of legislation and I commend the Minister of State on it.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the role of the Minister of State. As has been said time and time again, he has stepped up to the mark. My former PA, Mairéad O'Shea, has been very much involved. The Minister of State met with her. Those people are doing a lot of work to encourage more women into local politics.

Of course it is long past time that women had the entitlement to maternity leave. I hope this Bill will encourage more people. In my county of Roscommon the rate of female participation is about 22%. I acknowledge the female members: Councillors Orla Leyden, Valerie Byrne, Emer Kelly and Kathleen Shanagher. Senator Dolan referred to the fact that she spent a short time on Galway County Council. She has been replaced by an excellent councillor called Evelyn Parsons, who is doing a great job and continuing the good work there. I acknowledge her as well.

I know we are very short on time. We must encourage more women into politics. We must do everything to support that. I send out a call to my own county today to ask more women to come forward for our own party and other parties if they wish, but preferably our own party, to stand for election come the next local elections. That is not too far away. We must all be aware of that as well. This is a very important piece of legislation. I thank the Minister of State very much for all he has done and the way he and his officials have pursued this with so much vigour. It is a major step forward. It is the right way to progress. I say well done all round.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State. From day one he has done an extraordinary job. I know this has been a personal mission of his to ensure that this provision was included. At one stage I tabled an amendment on the motion on the Moorhead report and the assurances he gave at that point were that we were going to have provisions for maternity leave for councillors. It is very important that we have democracy and inclusion at that local level because our daily quality of life is in the hands of local councils and they do an extraordinary job.

I also pay tribute to the fact that we have the temporary absences also included. While we have been focusing on maternity, that is an important aspect of the issue. Should life circumstances arrive at one's door over the five-year period, there is now an opportunity to put forward a bona fide reason and take time off.I commend the work of Councillor Lorraine Hall, the AILG, LAMA and Women for Election. I pay tribute to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, who, while not at council level, has modelled how this could be done. I acknowledge the work of Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who set out the possibility that we would have an amendment to the Constitution to facilitate remote voting in the Dáil and the Seanad in order to facilitate Members going on maternity leave and other such instances.

An awful lot of work has been done. This is an extraordinary achievement, and it is a great day. I thank the Minister of State for all his hard work.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is very welcome to discuss this all-important issue. Congratulations to him and his officials on all that was involved in coming to this day, from LAMA to the AILG, to various councillors and various organisations, such as Women for Election and the Fine Gael women's group, which contributed to this. Well done to all who are out there promoting women.

I served on my council for 17 years, and during 15 of those years there were no more than three females on the council, and they were all older females or single because young mothers found it so prohibitive in that there was no maternity leave and there were costs associated with the position.

Today is therefore a good day for females. This is also about participation and encouraging people to participate. I have worked with many young women and young mothers who ran in the most recent local elections. This is about encouraging more women to run, and I believe that this historic day will give that encouragement and support to females to put their names forward. Females have so much to give once elected. I congratulate the Minister of State and wish him all the best and wish this legislation a speedy passage.

Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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I too warmly welcome this legislation. It is really important that this substitute system be available now to women who have a baby. It is important, however, as others have said, to say that this is only a first step. It is in some ways ironic that we have the publication of the recommendations of the Committee on Gender Equality today. Some of the issues are pay, access, the hours of meetings and technology. As Senator Seery Kearney and I am sure others have mentioned, the inability to vote remotely in these Houses is also an issue.

However, not every woman will want to take this up. I was fortunate to be elected when I was pregnant with my third baby. I came and felt I had to come to meetings ten days after my baby was born. I know, however, that I would never have been able to do that on the birth of my first baby because I was not seen outside the house for the first seven weeks as I was breastfeeding my baby and was simply not able. Women will make different choices, but it is vital we have a choice as to whether to take that maternity cover. I know that the substitute system is available to councillors. Dublin City Council staff and officials were brilliant to me during that time in my life when I was a councillor and had just had my baby.

Lastly, some concerns have been articulated about the design of the substitute cover. My colleague, Senator Moynihan, raised those questions this morning. We would like to hear from the Minister of State on that. The message has to go out that this is a really important system, a system that needs to be availed of and a system that cannot be abused, and the design needs to be got right.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome this very important legislation. This Bill is not only about enhancing the role of local authorities but also empowering their elected representatives to serve and to do their job without fear or worry. The points being made in the debate are well made. The Minister of State should be acknowledged as the person who delivered for councillors in his term, to be fair to him. He delivered on the thorny issues of councillors' pay and conditions and he deserves the support and thanks not just of Members in this House, who advocated on behalf of the councils, but also of the local authority members for his work. We should praise the AILG and LAMA for their representation and advocacy.

I have spoken on the Appropriations Bill. We should not put impediments in the way of local authority members in delivering their service and their role to the people they represent. We should support them in every single way.

I will make this final point, which is worth making. The vast majority of local authority members work in addition to fulfilling their roles as members of local authorities. The majority of their time now is spent doing council work and their role has been enhanced and changed.

Today is a good day. I thank the Minister of State for what he has done and wish him well on Saturday.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Members for their very kind wishes, for the work the House has done in assisting me in trying to deliver on some of these key proposals, such as the Moorhead report and, obviously, the Bill before us, and for ensuring the Bill's swift passage through the House. I will refer to a few points that were raised.

In response to Senator Dolan, the draft regulations provide for a review mechanism. It is very important we would review the operation of the mechanism and see how it is working. As I said to Senator Moynihan, it is important we have that mechanism through issuing directions if we find that it is not operating in the spirit of the law. It was inserted to ensure that the views of the local authority member going on maternity leave would be taken into consideration in respect of the choice of the temporary substitute. Obviously, the temporary substitute will cease in his or her position when the member comes back from maternity leave. That is what women wanted. When we had all the women councillors convened in that group they said they wanted choice and flexibility. That is why we have given them the option of either a temporary substitute or support to carry out their role.

We now have remote voting in our local authority meetings whereby local authority members can log in and vote remotely. We brought that in through the county development plan process during the global pandemic. That too is now a key reform mechanism that councillors can use to support them as they go about their duties.

Senator Buttimer is very much correct about the huge obligations now on the councillor to discharge his or her functions. Many will know from doing the county development plans how difficult it is to try to comply with all the regulations and responsibilities now placed on local authority members.

In response to Senator Currie, I am absolutely confident about the scope in Article 28 of the Constitution for the role of local government to be maintained. It gives the Government significant legislative scope to try to ensure that it is maintained. As a female councillor goes on maternity leave, the option of having a temporary substitute fill in for her maintains that service to the public and to citizens. That is very important.

As for policies, we have a huge journey still to continue in trying to bring in more supports for councillors. Many of the Senators have raised issues specific to ensuring that family-friendly places exist in our local authorities. That is very important.

I will continue to work with the House in trying to bring about those incremental changes. I appreciate that the pace of change and of the introduction of these supports can be frustrating sometimes, but we will do our very best to get as much as we can done in the time I am honoured to hold the role I hold.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Good luck on Saturday.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and all Members for their contributions.