Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two follow-up questions. The reforms around workers' rights and changing the workers' agenda generally were detailed. Will the Tánaiste outline what he thinks will be the impact on gender equality of some of those reforms and changes? He also referred to "not simply a lack of opportunity at senior levels in companies, but barriers at lower levels that are unlikely to be resolved by mandatory board quotas". It is also a difficulty at not just board but also executive level to get women into senior positions. One thing we have discussed here before is the phenomenon of women in commercial organisations, in particular, taking flexible leave, perhaps after a second child is born, such as a three-day week, etc., while their partners remain on a five-day week. I refer to the cultural effect of that being very different in commercial organisations.

The question in this regard is how we can get to a situation where it is normalised for a man to come into a commercial organisation and say he would like to do a four-day week for the next three years because a second baby had arrived and that becoming a cultural norm. We have introduced legislation on the gender pay gap and reporting in that regard. Is it possible we could go down a road where there would be reporting of information concerning those parents of young children taking flexible leave in various situations? That is just one issue the committee has discussed. I only have a short time, and I would love to hear the Tánaiste's views on the other issues as well.