Making the Irish Parliament More Family Friendly and Inclusive

What is it about?

In 2021 the Forum on a Family Friendly and Inclusive Parliament, which was established by the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker of the lower house of parliament), made 51 recommendations intended to make the Irish Parliament more reflective of Irish society. This paper describes the terms of reference of the Forum, how it operated as well as describing some of the key recommendations. Unlike similar initiatives in other parliaments the Forum was focused on the working conditions of staff as well as elected politicians, particularly in terms of the late and long hours parliament sites. While it was focused on increasing the number of women elected it was also concerned with getting more young people, more people from minority backgrounds and people with disabilities elected.

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