Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Senator Warfield has had to leave. I have a couple of questions from him and a couple from me. I believe the following questions from Senator Warfield are for Dr. Murphy. She spoke of the UNICEF target of 1% of GDP spend on childcare. What is the social and the economic cost of not acting on that recommendation? We always speak of these things as being a cost, but what is the cost of not increasing that level of investment? Will Dr. Murphy explain the role she sees collective bargaining playing with reference to her opening statement and the listing of the low levels of pay received not only in what is one of our most vital services, namely, our childcare services, but also in our disability services?

Professor Murphy hit on something very important when she spoke of the compass and the pathway to defining care. Given the impact it has on so many sectors across our society and our communities, if we do not have that shift in recognition of care, we will not be able to make any progress in a number of different areas. It is not just one aspect that will be impacted by a lack of that pathway to recognising care.

Professor Murphy spoke of basic State services and the positive impact they could have on gender equality. Trade unions have highlighted that even if some hybrid working model were to become much more commonplace across society, that would not remove the care burden or the care expectations on women at present, some of which, as Deputy Carroll MacNeill has highlighted, have been assumed to be the responsibility of one adult in the household. If Professor Murphy could address that point, it would be fantastic.

I will put another question to Dr. Murphy specifically. There was talk of the breakdown of the segregation of women into care occupations and those very heavily gendered roles. The committee has heard substantial statements from those who work in the education sector on the impact of the lack of availability of options, especially at secondary school level, on determining a career pathway, particularly for younger women. In Dr. Murphy's experience, what is her opinion on the role of education, that is, not only formal education delivered in a formal setting but also the more societal education as to how we change the concept of the provision of care as a career?