Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to join them to discuss the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. At the outset, I want to recognise the fantastic work done by the Citizens' Assembly and the determination of the Deputies and Senators who make up this committee to see that its work is vindicated. It is an objective that I, as Minister, and the Government share.

Committee members will no doubt agree that the task of setting ourselves towards real, measurable and meaningful advances that eliminate entrenched societal biases against women and girls remains an immense one, despite the progress which has been made to date. As Minister with responsibility for equality, I recognise that a multi-faceted approach is necessary if we are to make those meaningful advances.

The Citizens’ Assembly is to be commended on the breadth of its work and the range of recommendations which cut across the areas of responsibility of many Ministers. The Government is giving due consideration to the full range of recommendations, including key recommendations in respect of constitutional changes. In this context, of course, the views of this committee are critical. It is notable that the recommendations echo much of the six high-level objectives of the outgoing national strategy for women and girls, including socio-economic equality for women and girls, visibility in society and leadership of women and girls, and combating violence against women. Work on the development of a successor strategy will begin this year with a consultation process and I expect the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly will play a key role in informing the priorities of that new strategy.

Many of the actions relate to areas where my Department is actively engaged, including on gender pay gap reporting. As members are aware, the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced a legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting in Ireland and reporting by organisations with more than 250 employees will begin this year. Regulations to give effect to that legislation are in preparation and will be published in the coming weeks along with guidance for employers. An online reporting portal is planned for use in 2023 and will be publicly searchable. Reporting requirements will be rolled out in the coming years to organisations with more than 150 employees and then organisations with more than 50 employees, eventually encompassing more than two thirds of employees in the State. Gender pay gap reporting will help employers to identify the drivers behind their individual gender pay gaps and they will be required, in reporting, to explain their gender pay gap and to propose measures to address it. It will also provide transparency for employees on which companies are doing the most to address their gender pay gap. This will allow the Government to possibly take other targeted sectoral measures in future.

Family leave has a very important role in supporting women to remain in the workforce, as well as allowing both parents a better work-life balance, and the Citizens’ Assembly has reflected on this. Significant advances in the provision of family leave have been made in recent years, including the introduction of paid parents' leave which provides an entitlement to each parent to encourage a sharing of the care of a child in his or her earliest years, as well as the extension of unpaid parental leave. Parents’ leave is due to be extended again in July, which will bring the entitlement to seven weeks for each eligible parent, to be taken within the first two years of a child’s life or adoptive placement.

I will shortly bring to Government legislative proposals to transpose the remaining elements of the EU work-life balance directive, including a right to request flexible working within the terms of the directive and an entitlement to leave for medical care purposes. The legislation will also fulfil a long-standing Government commitment to extend the entitlement to breast-feeding breaks under the Maternity Protection Acts to two years. As part of the Bill, I intend to introduce legislative provisions to enable a person avail of paid domestic violence leave as a statutory right. I will touch more on this topic in a moment.

Another shared priority for my Department and the Citizens' Assembly is the availability of high-quality and affordable early learning and childcare. My Department is progressing an expansive and radical set of reforms in this area, backed by a commitment to at least double State investment in early learning and childcare by 2028. Recommendations by an expert group for a new funding model were accepted in full by the Government in December and my Department has commenced implementation. This includes a new core funding scheme by September which will be worth €221 million in a full year. It aims to transform the sector and establish a new type of partnership between providers and the State that reflects the importance of early learning and childcare for the public good. Core funding is designed to meet essential - and for many years elusive - objectives, including improved affordability for parents and improved quality through better pay and conditions for the predominately female workforce by supporting agreement on an employment regulation order through the joint labour committee.

Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare 2022-2028 was published in December. It sets out a career framework for the sector and identifies a range of actions to strengthen career pathways for early learning educators and school-age childcare practitioners. Commitments in the plan include the introduction of new supports to move to a graduate-led workforce, the introduction of a minimum qualification requirement for school-age childcare, the development and support of new training programmes for childminders, the development of a national infrastructure for continuing professional development for the sector and continued incremental movement towards the regulation of the profession.

I recognise that the invitation to meet with the committee today is to have a specific focus on the recommendations regarding constitutional change and on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV.

As the committee will be aware, following on from the programme for Government audit on how responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV is segmented across different Government agencies, it has been agreed that the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, will have lead responsibility for responding to DSGBV, and responsibility for policy, accommodation and services will sit within her Department also.

Tusla undertook the "Review of the Provision of Accommodation for Victims of Domestic Violence" to present recommendations on the future configuration of accommodation and services that may be required to holistically meet the needs of victims of DSGBV. The Tusla review highlights gaps in geographical coverage and inadequate provision of safe accommodation. It recommends an approach to address these issues with immediate, medium and long-term actions required. Priority areas for refuge development have been identified and an interdepartmental group has been established with a view to enact the recommendations of the review.

The third national strategy on DSGBV has been developed by the Department of Justice in consultation with organisations working in the DSGBV sector. The stated overall goal of the strategy is zero tolerance in Irish society for DSGBV. The strategy is structured under four pillars, aligning with the Istanbul Convention: prevention, protection, prosecution and co-ordinated policies. I understand that the strategy will be published in April.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has signalled her intention to develop an implementation plan in which the number of refuge spaces available will meet Ireland's commitments under the Istanbul Convention. Reformed structures for delivering refuge spaces, to accelerate the process and ensure a truly nationwide availability of services, will also be included in the new strategy.

In the interim, Tusla will continue to have responsibility for accommodation and services, while administrative arrangements are put in place for the Department of Justice to assume responsibility for this area. My Department will continue to work with the Department of Justice and other Departments and agencies to ensure continuity and expansion of services to support victims of DSGBV.

With regard to the recommendations for constitutional change, the Citizens' Assembly recommendations involve the holding of referenda to strengthen the principle of gender equality in the Constitution and to address Article 41.2.

The committee has received briefings on the significant work undertaken in the past by relevant Departments and the Attorney General's office, including through a task force and an interdepartmental working group to examine provisions in other constitutions and to assess the legal implications of modifying Articles 40, 41 and 45.

Committee members will be aware that some complexity presents itself in developing a workable definition of care and care work which would potentially encompass a range of family relationships, care undertaken by those living within the home and outside it, both paid and unpaid, and which could involve care for children, older people and persons with disabilities or cognitive issues. Notably, the definition of the family in the Constitution relates only to the marital family. These are matters I hope the committee can bring their perspective and expertise to bear upon.

Pending a decision by the Taoiseach regarding whether and when a referendum will be taken, officials in my Department are reviewing the work undertaken to date as a first step. I look forward to our discussions today. Might I add my sincere congratulations to the Chair on her election as leader of the Labour Party today? It is a proud day for the Chair, for her family, for the Labour Party and, if I can say so, for her former students as well.