Does any Member wish to make a contribution?
Local Government (Maternity Protection and Other Measures for Members of Local Authorities) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages
Bill received for final consideration.
Question proposed: “That the Bill do now pass.”
I again put on record of the House my appreciation for all the Members of all various different parties and Independents who contributed to framing these proposals for maternity leave for our councillors. Since my appointment, this has been a significant gap and I am happy now that we have taken this journey to ensure that we have this very important reform. I know from dealing with so many councillors right across the country that it had been a huge concern, principally because - which is totally abhorrent in a modern democracy - female councillors were obliged to seek the permission of their peers to extend period of absences and that was totally unacceptable. I am also happy that we have our suite of measures for sick leave, which is very important in the support of local authority members as they discharge their functions.
We have a long, incremental journey of work to continue the reforms for local authority members. In the first instance, maternity leave and the Moorhead proposals have been introduced, which have made a great difference for our councillor colleagues, but we have more to do. I acknowledge we have a significant journey yet to undertake and we will lead the charge to do that as long as I am in this office, which I am so grateful to hold.
I offer my good wishes to the Minister of State, who seems to be back in good form after his brief sojourn from the House. I followed him a couple of days later but, thank God, we are both back in time for Christmas.
I compliment him and all involved on this reforming legislation. There is no doubt the previous situation was a backward one, as any of us who has employees will understand. I wish Kathy, who works in my office but is out on maternity leave and is waiting for the call any hour, and Bob well in regard to the delivery of a successful outcome to accompany their existing little baby, Sam.
I am delighted the Bill has made its way through the House. It is so badly needed, not least because we try to encourage young people, especially females, and to be supportive of them in any way in order that there will be no blockages in their way. There were too many blockages for far too long. Procreation is wonderful and I wish all these people well, and it is very important that respect is shown to giving them appropriate leave and time to recover and to gel with their baby.
On the issue of sick leave, I compliment Deputy Peter Burke on being a very supportive Minister of State for local authority members, according to the feedback I get and having known him since before he took office. His is a very onerous task and role and elected members need all the support they can get. He has probably inherited the legacy of "Big Phil", the former Minister with responsibility for local government. The local electoral areas, LEAs, are massive, with huge areas to cover, and while there has been an increase in their remuneration, it has been hard earned and hard won. The provisions in these two items of legislation, namely, maternity leave and sick leave for both males and females, are very important. The vast majority of elected members do the State some service, to paraphrase a former Taoiseach, and I think it is everybody's intention going into public office to do good for his or her community and county.
The Bill is more than welcome and I hope it will be enacted immediately in order that the people who will avail of it will have long, happy and successful careers. Let them go forth and multiply.
For once, I find myself in total agreement with Deputy Mattie McGrath on his comments. He said it well. I commend the Minister of State on bringing this legislation forward. When it went through the Oireachtas committee, it was one item of legislation on which there was full agreement with regard to the spirit of it, the way it was written and the various areas it covered and catered for. When we put together our pre-legislative report, it was one of the easiest such reports I have ever put together because there was such agreement on it, and that is testimony to the Minister of State's commitment to introducing this well-overdue legislation and to his officials for their support.
I made one suggestion on Committee Stage, although it probably was not suitable for primary legislation. Nevertheless, I hope he and his officials will issue best-practice guidance to the chief executives of our local authorities on what facilities may be required or might be beneficial for councillors returning to work after maternity leave, especially in respect of nursing a young child during long council meetings such as those relating to county development plans. Even on Committee Stage, there were no amendments and it was one of the fastest Committee Stages we have ever had in that Oireachtas committee. I thank the Minister of State.
I thank the Minister of State for his extraordinary work on this important legislation. Tomorrow, the special Joint Committee on Gender Equality will publish its report, and it is no surprise that focusing on the issue of women in politics and public life was a key target of that committee, and of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality, to find practical ways to provide help and assistance to encourage more women into politics.
I acknowledge the work of Councillor Lorraine Hall of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, who is currently on maternity leave from her other job, given she has had her second baby in two years since she was elected as a councillor in 2019. Many of us will know how difficult it is to have a baby or even to have two babies, but having a full-time job while being a councillor constitutes an extraordinarily large volume of work, and she has managed not just that but also her contribution to this legislation, to her work with the Minister of State and to Women for Election. I acknowledge the Minister of State has engaged substantially with women's groups such as Women for Election, See Her Elected and others to try to provide support.
The legislation is deeply welcome, even if it is overdue, and it is a tribute to the Minister of State that he has carried it all the way from the initial idea stage to its passage in the House. The importance of it speaks to the huge dearth of women that remains in public and political life. It is still unnatural that half of the population is so completely under-represented in our representative chambers. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is the only chamber in the country where there is a 50:50 split, as far as I am aware, and I would like us to maintain that in the next local elections. Trying to attract women into politics is really difficult, however, and trying to attract, as I am trying to do in my area, new women candidates to run for the local election is genuinely challenging, Even where there are clear vacancies in which women would do well, it is difficult to persuade women to run. I do not know exactly why that is and I do not want to talk down politics, but it relates to the practicalities. Providing the facility for women to manage more easily the natural demands of life and family with politics is very important, and the Bill is one tangible example of that, so the Minister of State is to be congratulated on it.
I acknowledge the efforts of the Minister of State and thank him for bringing this legislation through the House. I acknowledge also the support of all the Deputies who are in the Chamber. This is most progressive legislation and it will have very practical, positive effects for councillors. In Kerry, I experienced the case of a young councillor who should not have had to worry about the council element of her life because she was going through such an important event in the arrival of a baby, but she did. Unfortunately, that was the case until now, but the Bill will change everything and that is important. It will be one fewer barrier to the entry of more women into our local authorities. The role of councillors in our democracy is so important and we need to do everything we can to ensure any barriers that will deter people, from any background or in any circumstances, from considering putting their names forward for election at local level will be overcome, and the Bill is overcoming one very significant such barrier.
I commend the Minister of State on getting the Bill through and again acknowledge the support of all the Deputies.
I commend the Minister of State on all the important work that has been done on the Bill. It is appreciated. If he could clarify how quickly the regulations might be introduced in order that the Bill will become operational, that would be useful.
I again thank the Minister of State and the Department for the work they have done on this, and I look forward to working with his team in the future. As he acknowledged, we still have a way to go. I thank also my party colleague Councillor Joanna Byrne, who was a member of the Minister of State's working group that helped get the Bill through. I look forward to working with him to get the other issues over the line.
I did not follow the debate on the Bill but it seems we are in danger of having more discussion and comment on Fifth Stage than we did on any other Stage, but there we are.
I thank everyone for their warm comments. A number of female councillors from all parties and none were involved at the very core of this process. Groups like Women for Election, See Her Elected and the Women's Council of Ireland have all been involved in trying to frame this legislation and assist me going through the process. Laura Mannion from the Department was central in working with many of the groups and getting these proposals together. I thank everyone. I say to Deputy Matthews that in consultation with CCMA and stakeholders we will issue guidance in that regard. We have no issue with it. The regulations will be signed pretty quickly. The draft regulations have been sent to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for review. I imagine we should be ready to sign them in the next week or two.
Question put and agreed to.
Cuirfear an Bille chun an tSeanaid anois. The Bill will now be sent to the Seanad.