Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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658. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if work is ongoing within his Department to devise a mechanism that would enable councillors to avail of maternity or paternity leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14565/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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To ensure that local government is accessible to all and representative of the communities it serves,  I recognise the need to address with urgency the matter of maternity and paternity leave for local authority elected members. 

I recently approved the establishment of a working group of local government stakeholders to examine the non-pay recommendations set out in the Review of the Role and Remuneration of Local Authority Elected Members, led by Ms Sara Moorhead SC.  The group met for the first time in early February and a number of times since, and is drafting an Action Plan for the implementation of Ms Moorhead's non-pay recommendations.  The terms of reference for the group include examination of the recommendation regarding parental and maternity leave, and this will be explored further by the group.  However, as the issue warrants prompt attention and requires consideration of wider supports other than leave, I have asked the working group to establish a councillor subgroup to examine specifically all aspects of the issue of maternity supports.  My intention is that there will be developments in this area as soon as is practical. 

In parallel, I have directed my officials to liaise with their counterparts in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Affairs, who are examining the issue of maternity supports for Oireachtas members, to ensure that there is a consistency in approach.  As will be appreciated, there are a number of legal and practical issues that must be comprehensively considered.

I am committed to inputting constructively to consideration of this matter, but also to addressing in a progressive manner obstacles to balanced gender representation in local government in this country.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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659. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if consideration has been given to allowing councillors to be exempted from paying commercial rates in circumstances in which they wish to set up an office in their constituency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14566/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020 provide that all buildings used or developed for any purpose are rateable unless expressly exempted under Schedule 4 of the Acts.

A review was initiated in 2019 to examine the underlying policy rationale relating to the inclusion of categories of relevant property in Schedule 3 and Schedule 4 of the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020.

The purpose of the review was to examine the underlying policy rationale and to assess the likely effects, costs and benefits of any proposed changes in categorisation.

My Department has an overarching objective to ensure the sustainable funding of local authorities. As commercial rates provide an important source of funding for local services any recommendations arising from the review must support that sustainability requirement.

The work of the group is ongoing.