Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Bhí sin an suimúil and bhain mé an taitneamh as. Culture is an interesting aspect of this issue. Cultural factors in teaching and nursing, for example, have led to a gender imbalance in these professions. There is also a cultural background to the gender imbalance in respect of women in enterprise. Education plays a massive role in that regard, while flexibility in work practices is also important. Ms Bushnell worked in the United States, where there is even less flexibility and maternity leave arrangements and so on are not as good. I advocate stronger supports to provide flexibility for women in enterprise. We heard about the flying entrepreneur in Belgium who would come and take the reins of a business to cover those on maternity leave, etc.

How do these two focuses on supports in Ireland and the United States affect the outcome? Both presentations were interesting.

With regard to empirical and evidence-based research, I read Ms Porter's report earlier and it was impressive.