Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious that there are a number of people who will want to speak on this particularly important issue so we will try to help the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to get back on time. I thank the Minister for his response on behalf of Government. The very positive response of the Government will meet with political support from all sides of the House. The Minister has obviously given the matter very serious consideration, on which we commend him.

The second report of the Convention on the Constitution related to amending Article 41.2 of the Constitution relating to the role of women in the home. The convention was also charged with encouraging the greater participation of women in public life and increasing the participation of women in politics. In respect of women's participation in politics, the task given was quite a tall order.

I will begin by paying tribute to the continuing manner in which the convention is being organised. Tom Arnold as chairman, Art O'Leary as secretary, the panel of advisers headed by Professor David Farrell and their entire team are doing a superb job. Many of us had some doubts at the start of the convention as to whether it would be possible to maintain the level of public interest and the level of participation by members of the public and politicians in the process. However, the manner in which it has been organised and the parity of esteem which is obvious for members of the public and political representatives has ensured that, to date, the convention has been a great success. I might argue that, politically, the challenges given to the convention were much less ambitious than they might have been. Most recently, the convention has come back looking for some additional time from the Houses to consider other matters. Let us hope that the work can be continued because, even in the early stages of the convention, some additional matters have been identified by the membership that will need careful consideration. I also pay tribute to the citizen members because they have shown huge commitment to the project. It has not been easy for people to come from every corner of the country to participate in this initiative, but they have done so not just willingly but enthusiastically. That is something that needs to be commented on continually and lauded.

I will be forgiven for expressing my view that the direct participation of politicians in the convention process, particularly when it comes to voting on the critical issues before the convention, may not be a good thing. I am convinced that when we go to vote, we as politicians - the 33 of us - can skew the results. I suspect we get a different result, albeit that everybody is participating with goodwill and trying in many instances to leave our political baggage outside the door of the convention. Whereas the participation of politics and politicians in the process by way of an advisory panel is highly desirable and indeed essential, participation in the actual voting process, where we are among the group of 100, gives a different result than the result that would be forthcoming were the convention to be made up simply of members of the public.

In terms of amending Article 41.2 to recognise the role of carers, not just women in the home, we, of course, give enthusiastic support to that measure. It recognises the huge changes in society in recent years. I was struck by some of the statistics that are available in this area, such as that 55% of women are in employment. In his contribution, the Minister spoke about the efforts that have been made in recent years to encourage greater participation of women in the workforce. I see how, in many households in my constituency, it is the woman who is still at work.

In particular, those who have a background in construction and now find themselves unemployed recognise and value the significant contribution a woman can make as breadwinner.

The convention also considered the importance of care giving. Some 61% of carers are women and 86% of child care is carried out by women. As men, we are humbled by those figures and we should ask ourselves whether we have a challenge and a task in regard to moving into these roles. As the father of three daughters, I regularly argue that women are more instinctively disposed towards care giving but we also have responsibilities as men. I believe we will see men taking on a bigger role in this regard in the future. It is, therefore, high time that we amend Article 41.2 of the Constitution to recognise what has happened to date and what will happen to a much greater extent in the future.

The convention was also charged with examining the role of women in public life. The Minister referred to the role of women on the boards of semi-State companies. We should also investigate third level institutions, where women vastly outnumber men in a range of faculties where men previously dominated. Women comprise more than 80% of teaching students. Many schools around the country are actively seeking young male teachers to offer male role models to students. This is also true of other areas, such as medicine, veterinary studies, law and business. This is a positive development.

I have previously discussed with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and his predecessors the level of involvement of women in local government. Sadly, women occupy only a limited number of senior posts in local government even though they are heavily represented at lower levels. When it comes to roles such as director of services or county manager, we do not have the level of participation I would expect. Earlier this week I tabled a question to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, about initiatives in his Department to encourage greater participation of women at management levels. The response I received referred to the initiative he had taken to encourage greater political participation, on which I commend him, but had little meaningful to say about what is being done to ensure that women take up management positions in local authorities.

This brings me to the issue of politics. One of the most interesting issues we debated during this session of the convention was the challenge we face in this regard. Males comprise 85% of the membership of this Dáil. Only 91 women have been elected to the Dáil since the foundation of the State. There was a significant improvement between 1977 and 1992, when the ratio increased from 4% to 12%, but there has been little change since then. I am highly conscious of the fact that I am speaking as a member of an all-male 19-Member team. It is a matter of acute embarrassment to Fianna Fáil that we do not have female Deputies, although two fine women represent us in the Seanad. We have committed to actively seek out women to contest seats in the local elections and the next general election.

The Acting Chair is indicating that I should conclude.

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