Ireland at odds with others on maternity leave for politicians

Ireland is increasingly at odds with other nation states in its failure to normalise maternity and parental leave for parliamentarians

Fianna Fáil senator Lisa Chambers, who was pregnant during the 2020 general election campaign, recalled some constituents commenting: 'oh, she's taking maternity leave, no point in electing her'.

Attention has yet again been drawn to the lack of parental leave arrangements for Oireachtas members with the recent announcement by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee that she and her husband are due their first child in 2021. The news was greeted by well wishes from across the political spectrum, but also by stories from women who recounted their experiences of balancing the care for a newborn with their public representative duties. 

Over 100 years since women first gained the right to stand in general elections and since the first woman, Constance Markievicz, was appointed to cabinet, the Oireachtas has yet to work out how to accommodate the involvement and participation of new mothers.