Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report of the Citizens' Assembly on gender equality, which is a matter of human rights, justice, and fairness. There are still many inequalities in women's lives that need to be eliminated, but we must also recognise that men suffer from inequality too.

I thank the members, chairperson and secretariat of the Citizens' Assembly. The assembly is an excellent example of participatory democracy. It is a constant challenge to ensure progress is being made with the Government's implementation of the assembly's recommendations. There must be change in that regard. The recommendations in the report must be implemented as a matter of urgency. We must see a more inclusive society where everyone feels he or she belongs. The time for talking is over. Now is the time for action.

While Covid has been hugely disruptive, lessons have been learnt. Remote working, hybrid meetings and family-friendly changes can only help with the work-life balance. We must also put in place solutions to assist carers to participate to the best of their ability in society. We must ensure political, business, sporting and cultural institutions are more representative of society in terms of gender balance and the representation of minorities. We must increase the number of women in representative office at national and local level. Progress is too slow.

Gender equality is vital for a sustainable and equitable economy. It helps reduce poverty and promote economic growth. The gender pay gap must end. We need a better work-life balance for the good of families and society. As the old saying goes, money makes the world go round. We must expand capacity in the area of equality budgeting. It must be expanded beyond the performance of budgeting foundation to link it with other robust budget policy tools used in Ireland. We must design a data strategy to support equality budgeting. Such a strategy would focus on improving the extent to which official statistics and administrative data provide insights into equality gaps and assess the impact of different Government interventions.

Structural pay inequality limits women's aspirations and opportunities. Women continue to take more time out of the labour market over their lifetime due to child-rearing and caring responsibilities. In addition to missed career opportunities or progression, this time out of the workforce will reduce a woman's cumulative earnings over the course of her working life. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, and the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, tell us more women than men earn the minimum wage. The introduction of a living wage of €12.90 per hour, as recommended by the living wage technical group, would benefit tens of thousands of female workers. Women earning the minimum wage are usually working part time and are employed in the services sector. Due to their parenting or caring responsibilities or because of high childcare costs, they often have to reduce their weekly working hours. Again, this limits their opportunities for advancement in work and earning potential.

I will segue ever so slightly to speak about breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding gives children the best start in life and we must do more to encourage it. It should not be a postcode lottery as to whether parents have access to public lactation consultations. We have a ludicrous situation in maternity hospitals where, before they go home, mothers whose babies are tongue-tied are handed a business card by consultants and told to call the office to make an appointment if there is a problem. That is inequality. We must bear in mind that up to 10% of babies can be tongue-tied. In the past, tongue-tie was dealt with before the baby went home through a relatively simple procedure. In 2021, mothers and babies are being put at risk while private consultants profit from their misery. In Portlaoise hospital, parents are being told they must pay €350 privately for a procedure that takes ten minutes. It is shameful and it must stop. The system must be more equal for people who have to work, breastfeed their children and look after them. I call on the Minister to take urgent action.

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