Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Work is under way to finalise the terms of reference for the Citizens' Assembly. I hope to bring proposals to the Government on this shortly. I had hoped to have them for International Women's Day but we have not yet finalised them. There is a discussion within the Government as to whether it should examine constitutional issues that have already been examined by the Constitutional Convention. Perhaps they require re-examination and there is a question regarding the extent to which issues that have a gender aspect but are much wider than gender should be examined. For example, there is the area of caring. There are pluses and minuses in carrying out that examination.

It will require a resolution of the Houses of the Oireachtas, indicating precise terms and arrangements, to establish the assembly. Once we have a draft, we will be happy to consult with the Opposition on it. Consideration is also being given to the length of service of members and the payment of an annual stipend, transparency, research, timetable and work programmes and resourcing the establishment of the advisory group. It is expected topics will be dealt with consecutively by the assembly, with two separate cohorts of members, one chairperson and one secretariat.

What we are doing with gender equality more generally is tangible and I agree that we do not have to wait for the assembly for such action. Building on the commitments in the programme for Government, there are initiatives in line with the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020, which aims to change attitudes and practices preventing women and girls from participating fully in education, employment and public life. We recently approved the text of the gender pay gap information Bill, which will promote wage transparency by requiring companies to complete a wage survey periodically and report the results showing gender pay gaps. The Bill, which will be published shortly, will also provide a range of enforcement mechanisms. It has already been approved but there is a technical delay.

We have also reformed the working family payment to ensure working families do not face poverty. We have pursued reforms in the one-parent family payment. In the past three years, under this Fine Gael-Independent Government, we have increased the working family payment by €15 per week or approximately €850 per year. We are allowing lone parents who are working to hold on to more of the money they earn. There has also been the introduction of two years of free preschool education and a universal subsidy for childcare paid to all people availing of childcare for children between the ages of six months and three years. This autumn, the new national childcare scheme will kick in, resulting in increased subsidies for those people already receiving them. Many middle income families with incomes of up to €100,000 will receive subsidies for the first time.

A new initiative, Better Balance for Better Business, was announced last July and it is all about increasing women's representation in senior management positions in the private sector. It is led by Ms Bríd Horan and Mr. Gary Kennedy. The Government recently decided to establish a public sector network within the 30% Club to promote greater gender balance in the senior leadership of the public sector. We also committed to and subsequently held a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. Abortion in Ireland is now legal and provided without charge. We have also introduced two weeks of paid parental leave, which will kick in later this year.

Noting that the initial sexual assault and violence in Ireland, SAVI, report was compiled a very long time ago, we have commissioned the production of a national survey on the prevalence of sexual and domestic violence, and that will be conducted by the Central Statistics Office. It is currently in the planning stage, with research stakeholder consultation and scoping to take place this year. Work is also ongoing on the implementation of a proposal to create 45 female-only senior academic roles within the higher education sector to correct the gender imbalance that exists in the area. As has been mentioned by others, on International Women's Day we had a special Cabinet meeting when we ratified the Istanbul Convention, among other actions.

We may well need more women's refuge spaces and that is currently being examined. Crucially, we have changed domestic violence law and there has been a change of approach that enables courts to ensure that the abuser leaves a home rather than the person who is subject to violence. That is the correct approach, although I realise it may not always be possible. The person perpetrating violence - the abuser - should leave the family home rather than the victim and the kids. That is the approach we would certainly like to take in future and legislation is either enacted or under way to allow that happen more frequently than it does now. In the context of gender balance on State boards more broadly, we have now exceeded our 40% target for representation by women on such boards but, as mentioned on previous occasions, this is patchy across the different State boards.

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