Minister McEntee welcomed a baby boy last week.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has thanked her followers for the support she's received following the birth of her son. The Fine Gael TD expressed her gratitude with a photo on social media. "A week old today," she wrote on Instagram. McEntee tagged her partner, Paul Hickey, and said that she wanted to offer a "massive thanks for all the congratulations and nice wishes on the arrival of baby Michael Shane Hickey." In the post on Instagram, McEntee acknowledged the newborn's speedy arrival. The Meath East TD wrote: "He was determined not to give his mammy any time off, arriving over two weeks early, but we're home now and doing great, so we couldn't ask for more." The Justice Minister made history last week as the first Cabinet member to take maternity leave and give birth while in office. https://www.instagram.com/p/COf3BkWnzsS/ McEntee previously spoke about how important it is to see women in politics being able to take maternity leave and return to their post. "It is really important that women see other women in roles and positions being able to take maternity leave, being able to return to their jobs and return to the positions they were working in before," Minister McEntee said. Last week, the TD said that she hopes other politicians will follow in her footsteps: "What I hope to see in the future is that this won’t just apply to me but that other ministers, TDs, senators, councilors, will be able to avail of maternity leave. This is very much a sticking plaster, it's not a long-term measure." Earlier this year, Taosieach Micheál Martin spoke about the need for reform in maternity and paternity leave policy for members of the government. "We want to make sure that having a family is in no way in conflict with pursuing a career in public life," he said.