A €1 million gym and creche planned for the Oireachtas is long overdue and will help bring more women into politics, Mr Tom Parlon said last night.
Facing criticism of the planned spending, Mr Parlon, the Minister of State for Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, said the gym would cost only €90,000, and the rest of the money would be spent on the creche.
"It is obvious that the Dáil is under-represented in terms of its female membership, and I feel that this initiative is a very positive one that should remove a disincentive to becoming actively involved in politics at a national level," he said.
"There has been much hype over the gym. It is in fact one exercise room, which will be refurbished and fitted out with exercise equipment at a cost of approximately €90,000."
The Office of Public Works recently tendered for the refurbishment of Kildare House, an office block in Kildare Street opposite Leinster House.
In addition to TDs and senators, Oireachtas staff would be able to use the gym.
Mr Declan Jones, chief executive of the housing charity, Focus Ireland, criticised the scheme.
"This shows once again how out of touch the Government is with problems such as homelessness," he said, "that it is cutting spending on housing while splashing out on a new gym for TDs who have recently got a big pay rise and could easily afford to pay to join their own gym if they wanted."
The fact that there were nearly 50,000 households on the housing waiting list and over 6,000 people homeless proved how the Government had its priorities all wrong, he said.