Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I just wish to make an observation on the sexualisation of young women. I agree with what is being done in this regard. I cannot speak for the North with regard to third level education of men and women, but in Ireland significant numbers of women are entering third level of education. Increasingly we see young women speaking on political issues on television panels. We have a coterie of highly educated women we did not have previously. This is fascinating. Many young women in secondary schools now want to go to Cambridge. This is fantastic.

I accept there is sexualisation in the context of what people wear, but young women are ambitious. Education is what it is about if we want to create self-esteem. In general, I do not see sexualisation as a major concern, because there is evidence on television and radio constantly that our young women are highly educated and professional and have opinions on every issue. There were not so many there before. I admit there is a deficit of women in politics and there are only two women in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, which has 33 members altogether. We do not have role models there. However, I am not overly concerned as I do not see us being able to change early sexualisation.