A local Councillor says she hopes the announcement yesterday of maternity leave for local authority members will lead to a better gender balance in politics.
Councillor Orla Leyden who had her daughter 15 years ago while holding down her position on Roscommon council says it was a very challenging time.
She says the lack of paid leave and other family friendly supports is a significant factor in women not becoming involved in politics in this country.
Speaking on the Let's Talk show this afternoon, the Fianna Fail councillor says the admin support option that will be made available for councillors who are pregnant should also prove very useful.
''As we all know, it's male dominated council chambers still serious under representation of women, but there should be no obstacles there to anybody contesting an election. And it has been an obstacle and it's great now that there's cabinet approval to draft the scheme. The scheme isn't in yet, but the approval is there. And because politics is so competitive and often quite adversarial, and sometimes depending on the timing of an election or that kind of thing, it might not be that easy to take the leave.''
