Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to highlight some of the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. Gender equality is often mislabelled as a woman's issue, but it is not. It is a societal issue and a goal on which every Member of this House ought to be focused. The Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality makes a number of recommendations, spanning from politics and childcare to pay and media and each recommendation has weight and possibility for change behind it.

One of the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly is to enact gender quota legislation which requires private companies to have at least 40% gender balance on their boards. I am pleased to say this is a recommendation I have set in motion. Earlier this month, I introduced the Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill 2021, which will seek to introduce a 40% gender balance quota in the boardroom. Last year, women accounted for just 22.4% of board members in Irish listed companies. That is shocking when the evidence shows gender balance is better for business. It is better when it comes to performing financially. It is my ambition that this Bill will deliver on the Citizens' Assembly recommendation; become landmark legislation and create opportunity for both men and women to be fairly represented at the top table of business and ultimately, to achieve better balance in the boardroom.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for her comments, for endorsing my Bill and for all she has done to shine a light on victims of sexual assault. The Citizens' Assembly made a number of recommendations on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. These included appointing a victims and survivors commissioner; covering power dynamics, consent and domestic violence within a revised relationship and sexuality curriculum and developing guidelines and specialist training for judges and lawyers on the treatment of victims, including the exclusion of sexual history, character, attire and counselling or medical records in cases.

We already know that since the beginning of the pandemic, incidences of domestic violence have spiralled and last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, confirmed the sharp rise last year in case files concerning domestic violence has continued into this year. The Citizens' Assembly's recommendations on the treatment of victims or survivors in a courtroom setting is especially relevant. Of course, we need to make sure we are preventing sexual, domestic and gender-based violence through increased education and I support a revised relationship and sexuality commitment. However, when sexual assaults come before a judge, which is a long road in itself, we must ensure - we owe it to survivors of these crimes - that their character, relationship history, personal medical records or indeed their wardrobe are not subjected to offensive and damaging scrutiny. It is time these factors, which are still often used in court cases dealing with sexual offences, are ended. When someone's wallet is stolen, we do not think it relevant to ask the person what he or she was wearing when it happened. Survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based crimes should be afforded that same dignity.

I also welcome the recommendation to set targets in legislation to reduce the hourly gender pay gap. The gender pay gap in Ireland is 14%, which effectively means women are working for free from the beginning of November until the end of each year. It is a reflection of how we value men and women in society but it is not a reflection of the value women bring to the workplace. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 will begin to address this systemic problem.

Introducing maternity leave for all elected representatives is also a recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly and this is an issue the Government was forced to face earlier this year when the Minister, Deputy McEntee, had her baby boy. We all agree it is wholly unsuitable to be rushing decisions to make these kinds of important topics relevant. It is a knee-jerk reaction and it sends the wrong message about the place of women in government and the heights they should expect to reach in their political career. All elected representatives need the security of knowing they will be able to take maternity leave should they need it.

This should be a priority of the Government, because, it speaks to the lack of women entering politics and the lack of women in this Chamber. Safety, be that online, on our streets or outside our own homes, can be a real concern for both women and men in politics and we have an opportunity to act cross-party and united to tackle and change that and prevent it from escalating in order that it does not put women off entering politics. Greater gender balance in politics would have a positive impact on every recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly. Simply by having more women in the room where policy and legislative decisions are being made, we can make better decisions and have more inclusive impacts on our society as whole.

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