Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I find it interesting to listen to the various legal arguments that have been advanced by Deputies O'Callaghan and Clare Daly. I do not have a position on this question. That is why we are here. We want to listen to what everyone has to say. I hope that we will learn more about this matter and that we will be more informed when the time comes to make a call. I find it amusing that the Minister waxed lyrical in his opening remarks about women's rights and equality in the workplace, given that his Government has done bugger all about the cost of childcare, which is probably the biggest barrier of all. Ireland currently has the second highest childcare costs in the OECD. According to an ESRI report that was published earlier this month, "childcare costs act as more of a barrier to employment for households with lower income" and "exclusion from the labour market due to childcare costs will increase poverty risks and household joblessness". Recent Governments have actively eroded the rights of mothers who do not work full-time by taking away the child tax credit through tax individualisation and by cutting their pension rights.

If the Government were interested in making actual strides in the direction of gender equality, it would introduce legislation on maternity, paternity and family leave, it would invest in publicly subsidised childcare that is affordable and of an appropriate quality, it would provide recognition for care through a universal pension scheme system and it would reform the childcare sector in order that childcare workers are paid more fairly. Ireland currently spends less on pre-primary education - 0.1% of GDP - than any other EU country. If we simply delete Article 41.2 from the Constitution, there will be no provision in the Constitution for the role played by carers in the home. According to Family Carers Ireland, it is estimated that family carers save the State €10 billion a year. According to Ms Orla O'Connor of the National Women's Council of Ireland, the simple deletion of this wording would carry with it a danger that many people would feel that recognition of their value was also being deleted. If the Minister and his Government colleagues are so concerned about gender equality and equality for women in the workplace, why have they pursued policies since 2011 that have done the opposite, as far as I can see?