Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Government's forthcoming Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011. However, I also wish to highlight the gender pay gap. The unadjusted gender pay gap in October 2009 was 12.8%, an increase from 12.4% in October 2008. I acknowledge that women have made strides in many respects, however, as a Government we must respond to gender barriers and tackle issues that hinder women's ability to fulfil their full potential. For example, today Safe Ireland launched its national one day census of domestic violence services 2011. It reported that on the 4 November 2011, a total of 770 women and children received support from a domestic violence service. Furthermore, the gender inequality in the time use 2008 report indicated that on an average day women spend two hours 29 minutes at caring work and two hours 36 minutes at house work. By comparison, on an average day men spend 39 minutes caring and one hour and 15 minutes, which I question, at house work. There is a large discrepancy between the two.

I wish to draw attention to a statement made at the recent Davos summit by Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg. She called for girls to be more ambitious at work and men to be more ambitious at home. We must create an Ireland where this is possible.

See this speech in context