Support for maternity leave for councillors grows

Justice Minister Helen McEntee will take six months' maternity leave effective from April 30. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Voting from home, extra staff for administrative work and support for those who may have suffered a miscarriage have been suggested to facilitate maternity leave for local councillors.

A working group of female councillors from around the country met with Minister of State for Local Government Peter Burke to discuss options for how maternity provisions can be rolled out.

Councillors, like TDs, are not employees but officeholders and therefore don't qualify for automatic employee rights.

Working group

The new working group is made up of Sinn Féin’s Joanna Byrne, the Green Party’s Darcy Lonergan, Labour’s Elena Secas, Fine Gael’s Lorraine Hall, Fianna Fáil’s Norma Moriarty and independent councillor Karey McHugh Farag.

The meeting was described as "positive and engaging", with Ms Byrne saying the councillors were "mostly on the same page".

Introducing substitute candidates was the "big topic", she said.

"However, there are fears amongst councillors that they would lose their identity and wouldn't have input in their ongoing work with a stand-in candidate," she warned.

The more favourable approach seems to be remote working and voting but having another person or candidate to support you in your administration work."

The officials seem to realise how important it is for councillors to maintain engagement even when on maternity leave, she said.

This is why being allowed to dial in remotely and take their own vote, with underlying support to take time off and ensure the admin work is still done is a popular option, she said.

'Extremely positive'

Likewise, Green councillor Darcy Lonergan said the meeting was "extremely positive."

"Everyone's there for the right reasons, with commitment from the department to get it done in a timely manner. We explored all options, dial-in and remote voting, a lot of talk of a substitute system and exploring options around that."

A report on councillors pay last year highlighted the lack of parental leave. In light of the attention brought to the issue as Justice Minister Helen McEntee plans to go on maternity leave in the coming weeks, Mr Burke is keen to bring new provisions forward.

Mir Burke said it was "clear we need a flexible system to suit the different needs and experiences of new mothers" and to normalise the right to take maternity leave.