Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate the Chair on her role. I was delighted to see a first-time female TD getting the chair. With the Chair's background, I am sure she will be an excellent ambassador for the committee. Members do not often get the opportunity to say it in these Houses but there appears to be a bit of a gender imbalance on this committee, which I am glad to see. It is important in this age of equality. We are all equal. Men often do as much as women in the home but women are still the main caregivers in the home for our elderly, and even professionally, and it is very important that our voices are here.

Having said that, the committee will focus on children and equality. We need to listen to children and needs to have groups like Youth Work Ireland in before us. We are celebrating ten years of marriage equality. That was a fantastic achievement but the children of those families still do not have equality. The assisted human reproduction legislation has been delayed. I have met people in my constituency who used a surrogate eight or ten years ago and their mother is not officially recognised. From an equality point of view, I want to seriously look into that. The people working in the early years childcare sector are so precious to me and many people here who drop our children to them every day. We trust in them. Sometimes they spend more time with our children than we do. They should be paid appropriately. We should retain, promote and look after them. The committee needs to ensure that it listens to people in the industry. I wish the Chair all the best and I hope we will do a lot of good work.