Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also support the proposal to refer the petition to the Minister for Social Protection to ask about her intention regarding this matter. In a way it almost harks back to the idea that women were expected to be tied to the kitchen sink and, thus, credit was never given for the work done. The dates listed by the petitioner are 1980 to 1993, which is shocking, as that means we are not going back into the mists of time. This is in our own lifetime. It was wrong in the first instance and it is wrong now. There is a broader issue about the way we value that work. We have the capacity to make this retrospective and it is the correct approach to first ask the Minister whether there are plans to address matters such as this. We can then see where we take the petition or whether we can close it if there is a satisfactory result from the Minister.