Joanna Tuffy: Confusion over Holly Cairns’s expenses exposes how generous TDs’s leave really is

Confusion was everywhere in the replies to questions by The Irish Times last week asked of a TD and Senator who had been paid travel expenses by the Oireachtas while they were on leave. The Irish Times reported that Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns repaid just over €8,500 in travel and accommodation expenses that were mistakenly paid to her by the Oireachtas while she was on maternity leave last year.Separately, the paper reported that Fianna Fáil senator Imelda Goldsboro was paid €16,799 in travel and accommodation expenses while out sick for eight months. When asked if she would repay €16,799 travel expenses paid to her while on sick leave, Goldsboro appeared to confuse salary and expenses. Initially, she said she did not think repaying the expenses was necessary and that she had continued working as a Senator while on leave. READ MOREHer party later said in a statement on her behalf that she was engaging with the Houses of the Oireachtas about the payments.The Social Democrats, replying on behalf of Cairns to questions about the travel expenses paid to her while she was on maternity leave, said questions should instead be asked of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform about a “serious and discriminatory flaw in the maternity leave scheme for Oireachtas members”. The party said: “Deputy Cairns is marked present, on the Dáil record, for the entirety of her maternity leave because she was required to submit sick certificates for the duration of her maternity leave. If she had not done this, she would have been marked absent on the Dáil record, rather than on maternity leave, and she would have been penalised financially when she returned to work.” But this is incorrect. The party is mistaken in its belief that a TD must submit sick certificates for the duration of their maternity leave. Their salary is untouchable. The only reduction is to the separate travel and accommodation allowance which – during a period of absence from Leinster House – is hardly a financial penalty. The responsibility for making the law that governs the salaries and expenses of TDs and Senators rests with the Oireachtas The Oireachtas is not some faceless institution with a HR department, and TDs and Senators as its employees. TDs are not employees at all; they are office holders. They are paid their salary regardless of whether they attend the Dáil or not. The only time a TD is required to attend the Oireachtas is for one day in a Dáil term to sign the roll of elected members. The same applies to Senators. Cairns, or someone on her behalf, must have put in a sick cert, presumably in the mistaken belief that this was required. But the only situation in which sick certificates are needed is if a TD or Senator does not want to lose a portion of their travel accommodation allowance in respect of missed attendance at the Oireachtas.[ Holly Cairns repays €8,500 in expenses mistakenly paid by Oireachtas during maternity leaveOpens in new window ]It is only in the past decade or so that the misunderstanding about TDs and Senators and the need for sick certificates took hold. Statements in the Dáil by TDs who mistakenly believed that sick certificates were required to take maternity leave were widely publicised and started to be treated as fact by politicians and commentators in the media. As a former TD and Senator who had a child while I was a member of the Seanad, I have found it frustrating to see the situation regarding maternity leave for TDs and Senators so misrepresented. I have tried to correct the record in the media over the years including a letter published in The Irish Times in December 2020. Another frustrating aspect to the debate about maternity leave for TDs and Senators is to hear politicians speak about the rules as if they are set by faceless bureaucrats. That the Social Democrats said questions should be asked of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform about the maternity leave system for Oireachtas members is an example of this. They are far from faceless, powerless bureaucrats: under article 15 of the Constitution of Ireland, the responsibility for making the law that governs the salaries and expenses of TDs and Senators rests with the Oireachtas. [ FF Senator paid €16,700 in travel expenses while sick at home for eight monthsOpens in new window ]It is TDs and Senators who make the laws and Ministers who make the regulations. The 11 member Houses of the Oireachtas Commission which includes nine members of the Oireachtas implements them. Politicians make the rules about the travel and accommodation allowance and politicians can change the rules. A provision in the regulations that is crying out for amendment is the one that permits the travel and accommodation allowance to be paid on the production of a sick certificate. If a TD or Senator is on leave, why would they need to be incurring expenses for travel to Leinster House and overnight stays? The amount of money is significant and it is tax free. What does it matter if the maternity leave entitlements for TDs and Senators are misrepresented? Because much of the debate has seemed to suggest that TDs and Senators have fewer rights than employees in relation to maternity leave. This couldn’t be further from the truth. TDs and Senators can take leave of unlimited duration on full pay. They keep their staff and can claim expenses. Employees, on the other hand, must give their employer at least four weeks’ written notice that they plan to take maternity leave. They must provide a medical certificate confirming their pregnancy. Entitlement to maternity benefit is dependent on having the necessary PRSI contributions. The standard rate before tax is €299 a week. There is no legal requirement for employers to pay their employees on maternity leave. Some employees don’t qualify for maternity benefit. It’s true that the debate about the need for maternity leave for women politicians has had a positive impact. It has made it more acceptable to take leave, and it has encouraged women into politics. However, it is also important the debate is informed by facts – and that it doesn’t become all about the politicians rather than the people they represent. Now it’s time for the focus to move to what TDs and Senators can do to improve the maternity leave system for employees.Joanna Tuffy is a Labour Party councillor for Dublin Mid-West