The pressure felt by women who work as local authority elected members “just weeks after giving birth”, owing to a lack of proper maternity provision in the State, is “simply unacceptable in 2021”.
This is the view of Cllr Mary Hoade, president of The Association of Irish Local Government, which represents the 949 local authority elected members in the Republic of Ireland. She was speaking after a number of “fellow female councillors” raised the issue of lack of maternity leave for both local authority and Oireachtas members, this week.
Cllr Hoade pointed out that if a councillor is absent for more than six months from their local authority, they can be deemed to have resigned their seat without getting a resolution passed by their fellow councillors.
'Additional insult'
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The Headford based politician said women councillors are particularly vulnerable to this, if they give birth while a sitting member of a local authority. “This is an additional insult to a female member who has to seek permission from their colleagues to spend additional time with their new arrival,” she said.
Cllr Hoade is calling on the Government and the Department of Local Government to “immediately address this issue” without delay. “Our female members deserve the same respect as women in other sections of society,” she said, “when it comes to maternity and parental leave.”
