Making the Irish Parliament More Family Friendly and Inclusive

Abstract

This article describes the work of the Forum on a Family Friendly and Inclusive Parliament (the Forum) which was established by the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker of Dáil Éireann) in 2021. The Forum was established to make recommendations that would result in a more family friendly parliamentary community that better reflects Irish society in terms of its diversity and inclusivity. The article discusses the terms of reference of the Forum, it describes the makeup of the Forum and how it worked to engage with stakeholders and made 51 recommendations. It then sets out some of the key recommendations and approaches to their implementation. The Forum is distinguished from similar initiatives in other parliaments because of its focus on the parliamentary community as a whole and not just the elected members, and further because it was focused on diversity and inclusivity beyond gender.