Ms Suzanne Keatinge:

Regarding the Chairman's question about whether we should be thinking about a specific report to bring some urgency to this issue, it is worth saying in respect of the SDGs that in the past, there has been this idea of a spotlight report. We know that next year, Ireland must offer its voluntary national review at the high-level political forum. Is this another opportunity to say "Let's focus on this issue of gender"?

In response to the question from Deputy Clarke, it is really about what we should prioritise. As we have seen here, there is no magic bullet nor is there any quick fix. We know it is complicated and that a range of responses are needed. If I dare attempt to think about how to prioritise over the next 18 months, a few things that have already been touched on come to mind. First, we are in this Covid environment and the vaccine issue must be brought to the fore. The phrase "We're in the same storm but different boats" is really important. We know that unless we are all safe, nobody is safe. As has already been said, the issue of vaccines is so important and we have to get it right now.

It is important to emphasise that in terms of Irish Aid and what Ireland is doing on the UN Security Council, it is championing the right things. It does have these very good policies in place. We also know that Frances Fitzgerald, MEP, is doing a great job at EU level around the gender action programme and really promoting those issues at EU level. The problem is not lack of policies; it is lack of implementation. This is what we really need to focus on. It involves tracking and questioning of where the progress is and what the measurements are over time periods. Let us not forget that with these policies, we also need to recommit to funding. This involves funding of overseas development aid and funding around specific gender programmes if we are to implement these policies.

My third priority is collaboration on so many different levels. In 2018 - perhaps some members of this committee were there - Ireland led an international caucus of female parliamentarians. That was an amazing experience where we saw that learning from Ireland, America and Europe, but also from Africa. It was so rich and important and will surely help us speed up some of these processes. We have seen today that collaboration between NGOs, members of this committee and politicians.

The final issue I would prioritise is the need for us to keep collaborating in order to keep the conversation very live in the public space among the Irish population and globally through interactions like this one. It involves really engaging at constituency level and getting engaged with the national conversation around gender equality. These are four things I would prioritise. I am sure there are more. I will hand over to other colleagues.