Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
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This area of flexible working is one where I am excited to see some of the measures. For too long we have been chasing the idea that men and women can be doing caring work equally, but that is not a reality. There are times in women's lives when they will be doing more caring than men, and they should have the opportunity to choose to do that and not be disadvantaged based on that choice. I am delighted to hear some of those practical solutions, as mentioned by Ms Buckley, that more women might do this but it will not lead to them being disadvantaged. That is where we need to go - to look at those opportunities.

A number of weeks ago, witnesses before this committee talked about women over 55 years and this being a real area of concern. I have seen, as have my friends and people I know, that women come to a certain time in their lives where I will not say they are back caring again but they are taking the option to care for a loved one who may be older. Let us not forget that. We recognise the need for maternity and paternity leave but there is a much larger issue in respect of caring.

Bearing all this in mind, will WorkEqual, SIPTU, and IBEC comment on re-entering the labour market? Stay-at-home parents may be out of the workplace for a significant length of time and much of the disparity in the gender pay gap comes about when such people re-enter the labour market five or ten years down the line. What are the practical solutions the witnesses see that say people can have it all but maybe not all at the exact same time, so they choose at different times of their lives to do different things?