The government’s recent approval of maternity leave for councillors, as provided under the general scheme of a Bill, has been described as “very welcome progress” by Peter Burke TD, Minister of Local Government and Planning, who added that “will remove a barrier to the participation of more women in local government”.

It will also offer the opportunity to appoint an individual as a temporary substitute in the place of a councillor who takes a period of maternity-related absence or is absent due to illness.

The general scheme will now proceed for priority drafting of a Bill, and it will be published and forwarded to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Under this new legislation, councillors will now avail of the same maternity protections as employees. “Councillors should no longer feel pressured to continue in their representative role or attend council meetings for votes or debates if they are on maternity leave or are absent due to illness or in good faith for another reason,” the Minister noted.

“They will have flexibility, if they so wish, to have an individual fill in for them on a temporary basis for the period of their absence,” he added.

Thanking Government members for their continued support in making the role of councillor more manageable and equitable, Minister Burke said he now looks forward to working with them and with members of both Houses of the Oireachtas as this legislation progresses in the coming months.