Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak as we are about to celebrate International Women's Day on Monday, on the effect of the Covid-19 crisis on women. Often, when we stand to speak on a particular issue in this House, we do so to raise a criticism, grievance or problem. Today, however, I am going to take the opportunity to talk as much as I can about the positive advances in the lives of women that have been made over recent decades.

I begin by pointing to the position of women in politics in an Irish context. Forty years ago, in 1981, we had eight female Deputies, which equated to 5.4% of all Deputies. Today, we have 36 female Deputies, making up 22.5% of the total. In a society where women account for a majority of the population, it is appropriate that female voices be heard in this decision-making Chamber. Many colleagues may not be aware that I am only the second female to be elected to Dáil Éireann for the Wexford constituency. The first was Avril Doyle, who served as a Deputy and Senator for 20 years and as an MEP for ten years. In the space of 100 years, just two female Deputies have been elected in County Wexford. I am not for one second suggesting that a female Deputy is better than a male Deputy, but it must be of benefit that a wider diversity of views are represented in this House. When making decisions on legislation that impacts people's lives, it is of great benefit to be able to make those decisions with input from people with different perspectives.

In an Irish context, the idea of educating boys and girls to the same level is taken for granted. Educational attainment levels for both males and females have increased massively over the past 30 years. In 1991, just 13.6% of all Irish people had a third level education, whereas that figure now stands at 42%. The data suggest that a greater number of women than men achieve a third level qualification. At second level, girls regularly outperform boys in language subjects, while boys regularly outperform girls in the maths-based subjects. Overall, comparisons between the results of males and females suggest that achievement levels are largely similar, with girls, on average, achieving slightly higher leaving certificate results. This suggests that we have an education system that gets the balance right.

Unfortunately, not all countries in the world can claim to support women in education to the same degree as they support men. UNICEF claims that only 66% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. At second level, the gap widens, with 45% of countries achieving gender parity in lower secondary education and 25% in upper secondary education. Poverty and child marriage are cited as two of the main factors in this disparity between boys and girls. For example, poor families often favour boys when investing in education. In the lowest income brackets worldwide, only 47% of women are literate. Turning back to education in an Irish context, the statistics and figures show that we are moving in the right direction. This is positive news.

When compared with 40 or 50 years ago, the number of women who play sport in this country has gone through the roof, as have the number of sports clubs catering for women. There has never been a better era for women to play sports than the current one. There has never been as much women's sport on television or as much sponsorship for women's sports. All of these things illustrate the fantastic advances that were made over the past 40 to 50 years. Progress will, no doubt, continue to be made in this regard. Thinking of some of our best female sportspeople, I can point to the fantastic camogie team my county has had in recent years. Players such as Kate Kelly, Ursula Jacob, Mags D'Arcy and many more have inspired a whole generation of girls to play the sport, while Rianna Jarrett is currently doing likewise for hundreds of young female soccer fans. On a national level, we have some world-leading sportswomen, including Katie Taylor, Ciara McGeehan, Fionnuala McCormack, Rachael Blackmore and many others, who continue to inspire young girls to take part in sport. In recent months, Lisa Jacob, an Enniscorthy native who has been capped 139 times for Ireland, was made the Irish women's hockey team Olympic team coach. These are all reasons to celebrate.

Up to this point, I have referred to the positives in an Irish context. It would be remiss of me not to draw attention to the many atrocities being carried out worldwide against women. One that immediately springs to mind is the ongoing kidnappings of schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram. Hundreds of girls have been kidnapped and subsequently disappeared in that country over the past five years. Only last week, 317 were abducted in the latest attack. The situation of Princess Latifa, currently being held captive by her father, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, is another example of the consequences of an attitude that seeks to suppress women at every opportunity. We also recently saw a member of the Qatari royal family refusing to acknowledge female football officials in that country, which is the venue for the next FIFA World Cup.

We can often dwell too much on cosmetic solutions. It is easy to apply a gender quota to a political party at election time. It takes more guts, however, to deal with the bigger issues. We must not ignore the real and significant anti-female discrimination that is going on in the world. While I have so far focused on the positives in Ireland, we are still far from perfect. I have been vocal in my support for carers in this country, most of whom are women. A pension solution was committed to in the programme for Government, but after a year in office, there appears to be little progress made on this matter by Government. These are the types of policies that help the lives of women in Ireland in practical terms. Sharing hashtags on International Women's Day will not solve the problems they face. Only committed and determined action will do that. Fortunately, Ireland has made great progress over the past 40 to 50 years and, overall, we must be positive. Progress is being made and I hope to continue to be part of that progress for women and for society.

There is much more awareness now of menstrual health and the importance of the provision of adequate supplies to woman who are impoverished and homeless. The UN and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly recognised menstrual hygiene as a human right, as has the Oireachtas women's caucus. We need to ensure that no woman in this country is unable to access menstrual products due to poverty or is reluctant to ask for provisions due to embarrassment. We need to ensure that the shackles of Catholic guilt no longer prevent women or men from talking about so-called private things.

Gender equality should be for everyone. Issues affecting women affect everyone. The values of the women's caucus are equality, solidarity, democracy and diversity, values that we all believe in as men and women, for men and women.

I hope we will never again see women treated as they were treated in the mother and baby homes. We must do what we can to support men and women such as those whose stories of illegal adoption we watched on "RTÉ Investigates" last night.

I do not subscribe to the notion of identity politics. It seems to burrow its way into almost every political debate, with the aim of pitting certain sections of society against each other. We must celebrate the good in every section of society. Should I be fortunate enough to get the opportunity to speak on International Men's Day, I will use it as an opportunity to speak about all that is good about men, but, for today, let us celebrate all that is good about women and remember the great progress that has been made over recent decades.

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