Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On collective bargaining to address pay equality, how does Ireland compare to other jurisdictions? If the culture is not there, we have to make sure we legislate. My colleague has a Bill around the right to collective bargaining. Women are less inclined to ask for a pay rise and employers do not generally tap you on the shoulder to offer one. That is important.

The national minimum wage was only introduced in Ireland in 2000. There were warnings that it would result in many job losses and it did not, as Dr. Redmond said. It protected employers selling a service or product from being undercut by other employers giving bad wages. That shows how the State can provide that basis. The State has to move in and put things in place, such as school buses and childcare, to make it easier for women to remain in the workplace. Women have told me they might have to give up work because their child has not got a place on the school bus and they have to be in work for 8.30, and all this kind of stuff.

I am glad I am not the only one in the room saying equalising downwards around high pay is not necessarily a bad thing. I am not a feminist because I am a woman, but because I am an egalitarian republican. There is no need for some men to be earning as much money as these high-end executives earn. Where that pay has come down, is it because they have a better quality of life now and are not working huge long hours? Has there been a change in the last couple of years around that? When you improve things for women, you improve things for everyone. There might be something there.