Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to use the brief time I have to pay tribute to the many women who are struggling through the pandemic. They are getting by and the women in the Chamber, and some men as well of course, will know what getting by is like. They are getting by but they are struggling and it would be remiss of us to pretend that people are breezing through this, particularly women, because they are simply not. This is a tough time and it is a particularly tough time for women.

We are having this discussion on International Women's Day, and my colleague, Deputy Funchion, is correct that this debate is late on a Thursday evening. I recall other occasions in the previous Dáil, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will recall the same, when we had debates of this nature, and they were always late on a Thursday evening. Perhaps we could have a prime time slot for the next International Women's Day. I will not hold my breath but it would be a very good idea and would send a very positive and clear message to women.

We know we are not over-represented in here. Look around us. We are not over-represented at the decision-making tables in big companies. We are not over-represented in the boardrooms. However, we are over-represented when it comes to low pay. We are over-represented when it comes to precarious work. We are over-represented when it comes to doing the lion's or, indeed, the lioness's share of the caring responsibilities in the home. This needs to change.

We need to re-evaluate and the pandemic gives us this opportunity because all of a sudden we find ourselves in a position whereby our front-line heroes are not just gardaí, nurses or doctors but porters, cleaners and people in supply chains. They are the people who have kept us fed and kept us going through the pandemic. They are the heroes of the pandemic. They are our front line. We know that women comprise a large chunk of these people. What these women ended up doing was not just their job, which we really need them to do, but also two more jobs. They had to take on the job of teaching and the job of child minding. They already had an important job to do and they then get additional jobs to do.

The opportunity exists for us to reframe and reimagine the contribution made by women, which is not always recognised. The contribution they make to the informal economy and to the formal economy can often be ignored. I am reminded of the words said to me when I got my first job in the trade union movement, and my colleague, Teachta Funchion, will be familiar with this. I was told I could work twice as hard as the men for half the credit. This is not right but everybody knows it. Effectively, this is what happens. We collectively say things such as that it is very hard to be a woman in a man's world but actually what we should do as women in positions of political leadership is use our platform to promote women, and not just women for the sake of it but to promote women who will not pull up the ladder, who will not cut supports for lone parents, and who will not ensure women are left to the end of the queue but who will promote women and who will do the job of supporting other women to come along. This is the only way we are going to get women involved in political life and get women involved in positions of leadership. I can tell you, sisters, it will not be given to us. It is up to us to create these conditions so we can take these roles and assume the responsibility that we are well able for.

Let us mark this International Women's Day and look forward to the next International Women's Day by when, I hope, we will have learned some lessons, we will have closed the gender pay gap and we will have some progress towards true equality. This means promoting women who will promote other women and work with other women. We need to do this as women in positions of leadership.

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