Ms Orla O'Connor:

For the National Women's Council, in some ways our views are similar. The piece in the Constitution is about recognising the value of care and how critical that is for society and the common good. That is why the council recommends a Citizens' Assembly-type process that also considers legislative options. That would show we value the importance the care. We must analyse what needs to be done in legislation. One can see from our presentation that a number of different issues arise.

While this matter concerns carers, there also are wider issues such as family friendly policies, paid parental leave and childcare, as mentioned by Deputy Wallace. We view this matter as a legislative issue. The piece for the Constitution is about recognition. We are not saying one must insert something in the Constitution in order that one can then go to court to pursue same. That is why I think it is important that the assembly considers constitutional and legislative options because there needs to be further legislation in terms of care. We can either see this referendum as something where we can say, "Grand, we did that for gender equality" or we can view this as a way to improve women's equality in Ireland. That is part of why we are suggesting we should have this process and come forward with both constitutional and legislative recommendations.