Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also want to pick up and touch on Article 41.2 regarding a woman's place in the home. As we all know, progress has been glacial, which is all the more frustrating considering the huge body of work that has been done and completed, and the instruction that has been given over so many years and, indeed, the last decade, in terms of enabling a constitutional amendment.

I note in the Minister's correspondence to Deputy Bacik this week that the Government has yet to make a decision on the referendum on all three proposed amendments, including Article 41.2. The programme for Government states that it will be informed by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality to consider whether there should be a referendum on Article 41.2. The previous programme for Government committed to hold a referendum and the current national strategy for women and girls commits the Minister to bring forward proposals for the Government's consideration.

It is a bit unclear from the Minister's response today. Why has the Minister not brought forward his proposals on Article 41.2? From speaking with the various Departments at this committee, I learned that the responsibility lies solely with the Minister of the relevant Department to bring forward proposals. It is a political decision that is made by the Department. The Department develops a policy paper, the Attorney General provides the legal advice and the wording is then put together. Why has the Minister not brought forward a proposal on Article 41.2? Again, I have said before, as have other members of the committee, that considering the huge body of work that has been done, we should not wait until the end of this committee and then initiate the political decision-making. That work needs to be in tandem with our own work.