Comment: Helen McEntee's pregnancy raises a political injustice

Minister for Justice & Equality, Helen McEntee, has announced she is expecting her first child. Picture: Sam Boal

There have rightly been many congratulatory messages to Justice Minister Helen McEntee and her husband on their announcement that they are expecting their first child.

There have also, though, been the predictable howls of "how is this news?" online. The fact is that a member of the Oireachtas, let alone the Cabinet, having a child while serving is noteworthy for a number of reasons.

Firstly it is incredibly rare that female TDs have children while in office. Former junior minister Lucinda Creighton gave birth to a baby girl in 2014 while a TD, but the pitter-patter of tiny feet is generally not heard around Leinster House. This can be for a number of reasons but many come back to the lack of female representation in the Dáil — just 36 of the 160 members of the 33rd Dáil are female.

That politics tends to attract an older cohort generally also plays into this — many women who are elected have children already when they enter the chamber.

Secondly, and most importantly, it is noteworthy because Ms McEntee will not be entitled by law to take maternity leave. While she will not go without — female TDs are entitled to their full salaries while they are off — she will not be guaranteed any protection under the law should she decide to take time off after her baby's arrival.

Two Government TDs, Anne Rabbitte (pictured) and Niamh Smyth of Fianna Fáil, have a perfectly good bill ready to go. File Picture

There will be many who will roll their eyes and believe that Ms McEntee's position of privilege inoculates her from the same pressures felt by working mothers, but that is a complete unknown. Only Ms McEntee and those closest to her will know how she feels about having a baby while in Cabinet. But the individual feelings of Ms McEntee are not the broader point here. We as a nation establish social protections for the individual, we do so to create safety nets and protections around those who need them.

To this point, the Irish state might claim a level of ignorance around the issue. It has barely come up, so why legislate for it? But the issue has been raised.

Two Government TDs, Anne Rabbitte and Niamh Smyth of Fianna Fáil, have a perfectly good bill ready to go. They brought their Maternity Protection (Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) Bill to the Dáil in 2018 but it lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil earlier this year. At the time, Ms Smyth told the Dáil that pregnant members of the Oireachtas that are TDs were required to provide "sick certs".

In July, Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns raised the issue of maternity leave for TDs and councillors in the Dáil saying it is not a perk and it is not a pay rise but a human right. "We can’t scratch our heads after every election and say — I wonder why we haven’t achieved greater equality when there is a glaringly obvious barrier for women.”

That is the wider point. What better message to send to the thousands of capable young women who might want to both enter politics and have a family? That their plans will not just be respected in a broader sense of pats on the back or congratulatory tweets, but respected by the state's social protection infrastructure.

How can we as a nation ask multinational companies to lead on levelling the playing field for men and women when our Oireachtas doesn't get held to the same standard? 

How can we make Ireland a warmer place for women when Leinster House remains a cold one? 

We could look to the example of Canada, where last June leave of up to 12 months was introduced. The bill says that the leave would be given on the understanding that local matters are attended to, so constituencies don't lose representation. In October, the Canadian parliament saw a record number of females elected.

Affording maternity leave to TDs and councillors would not correct all of the gender inequality in Ireland. But it would be a good start.