Sinéad McMahon is a student on the Master’s in Gender, Politics and International Relations programme at University College Dublin. This post is based on the findings of her final-year dissertation, which was undertaken as part of the BSc Government and Political Science degree at University College Cork.

The provision of maternity leave for Oireachtas members has been recommended by the Forum on a Family-Friendly and Inclusive Parliament, the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality, and its absence has been criticised by NGOs, academics and politicians from across the political spectrum. Although the Government has expressed its support for providing maternity leave for TDs and Senators, it has not yet introduced any legislation to this effect. Minister for Equality, Roderic O’Gorman TD intended to establish maternity protections for Oireachtas members under the Work Life Balance Act 2023, but later decided to introduce a separate bill owing to what he described as the “complexity” of proposals to provide maternity leave for TDs and Senators.

For my final-year dissertation as part of the BSc Government and Political Science degree at UCC, I researched the challenges of providing maternity leave for Oireachtas members from a feminist institutionalist (FI) perspective. Examining institutions and institutional change through an FI lens helps to uncover the masculinised norms, values and rules that characterise and shape political institutions and their institutional culture. In my interviews with four Oireachtas members and a Government official, it was suggested that informal expectations regarding the availability of TDs and Senators to their constituents impact their ability to take maternity and/or parental leave. One parliamentarian described the pressure that she was under to continue working during a period of maternity leave, stating that the local branch of her political party asked her to undertake constituency-based work, attend events and travel to the party’s annual conference. Another long-serving male TD believed that elected representatives are viewed as ‘…a piece of public property. You’re available to be contacted, to be pressurised, be lobbied morning, noon or night. And if you’re not available, they’ll be very angry with you’.  There is gendered resistance towards elected representatives taking maternity leave, as evidenced by sexist comments encountered by Minister Helen McEntee, Senator Lisa Chambers, Senator Catherine Ardagh and Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne during their pregnancies and periods of maternity leave. The pressure to carry out extensive constituency work as an elected representative is closely linked to the informal institutions of personalism and localism fostered by the electoral system of PR-STV, and disadvantages elected representatives and candidates who have given birth and/or have caring responsibilities.

Furthermore, there is a lack of agreement on the legislative measures that should be introduced to provide maternity leave for TDs and Senators. According to legal advice received by the Forum on a Family-Friendly and Inclusive Parliament, Oireachtas members are office-holders and are not entitled to maternity leave. Possible options in legislating for maternity leave include designating Oireachtas members as employees under the Maternity Protection Act 1994, establishing a system of remote voting in the Oireachtas, allowing Oireachtas members to appoint a temporary substitute during a period of maternity leave, creating a formal pairing system with a rotating panel of pairs, and providing administrative assistance to elected members on maternity leave as established in 2021 by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Many of those I interviewed favoured a ‘flexible’ and ‘non-prescriptive’ approach but expressed concerns regarding the implementation of these measures. Perhaps surprisingly, given the cross-party support for Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill’s Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Remote Parliamentary Voting) Bill, the members who I interviewed were critical of the proposal to introduce remote voting in the Oireachtas. It was argued that it could be potentially misused by elected members faking illness, require TDs and Senators to work during periods of maternity leave and lead to lower levels of attendance in the Oireachtas.

Among the Oireachtas members I interviewed there was a reticence to recommend a legislative entitlement to maternity leave, with one senior TD noting that their perspective had ‘evolved’ on this issue. Another parliamentarian viewed the provision of maternity leave for TDs and Senators as an elite issue that is ‘totally disproportionate’ and ‘out of context to the issues that are actually out there’. The focus on providing maternity protections was also criticised, with one TD stating that ‘it’s just as difficult’ for male Oireachtas members to manage parliamentary responsibilities following the birth of a child. There was an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the possibility of allowing Oireachtas members to appoint a temporary substitute, due to the competitive nature of intra-party politics. The only measure that was generally supported by those interviewed was the provision of administrative assistance to Oireachtas members taking maternity leave. As highlighted by feminist political scientist Fiona Mackay, reforms aimed at promoting gender equality in political institutions can often be labelled as ‘risky’, ‘inefficient’ or ‘unrealistic’. The delay in legislating maternity leave for TDs and Senators has been noted by the European Women’s Lobby and the Oireachtas Women’s Parliamentary Caucus announced in May that they are seeking a meeting with the Minister for Equality, Roderic O’Gorman TD, to discuss the lack of progress on this issue.

My research suggests that informal institutional norms are influencing the process of change and extent of reform in relation to the provision of maternity leave for TDs and Senators. Legislating for maternity protections for TDs and Senators should not be a Sisyphean task. However, it is one that requires significant political will. Critical actors need to place this issue on the legislative agenda and identify ‘soft spots’ of agreement that present opportunities for reform. This case study reflects the central role of informal institutions in gender regimes. Exploring this social code is essential to transforming our gendered institutions and increasing the representation of women and minorities in the Oireachtas and other elected bodies.