Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If these recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly show us anything it is that we as legislators and a society have a massive job of work ahead of us. We need to make those substantial changes, the ones that are necessary to provide true gender equality, a true equal place for all citizens of this State to live. We need those new laws and policies, and stronger enforcement. One thing that screamed out to me from this report was that it is not only urgent action but co-ordinated and monitored action that is needed across an array of areas.

Before I get into the specifics, I will give a few examples of what gender inequality looks like. The following is one case of it that crossed my desk this morning. It involves a family with two small children where the mother has just returned to work following maternity leave who were refused a mortgage under the Rebuilding Ireland home loan because they were not in a position to save. The mother is the primary earner and her employer did not top up her maternity benefit. That is a case of real gender inequality. That is something the Government can fix and needs to quickly do so. It is wholly unacceptable. Another case involves a elderly woman who lost her husband only to find out that her personal public service number, PPSN, had also disappeared. As her daughter put it, their mother had been erased following their father's death. That is not on either. Another case involves a young lady, Kim, who parents alone. She is highly educated, talented and skilled. To return to participate on a community employment scheme, it would cost her €60 a week in childcare. That simply will not happen. She is now consigned to being at home despite wanting a career.

We talk about leadership, politics and gender quotas but I want to touch on the maternity leave aspect. On 23 May 2014 I was elected to Westmeath County Council. On 12 June I gave birth to my fourth child, my daughter Teagan. The Minister can do the maths. I was 37 weeks pregnant when I was first elected. At the very first council meeting I was supposed to be in hospital for tests but there was no mechanism to vote by proxy, in absentee or in advance. That is because of the archaic system of voting we have by a show of hands, no other reason. The only advice I was given is that I should have considered a judicial review. That was not good enough seven years ago and it is still not good enough today. Also, what came to be a factor is that while we had recommendations in legislation for consideration of females in positions, none of them was binding except when it came to positions on the educational training board. I will not even go into the comments that were made to me that night in the count centre because I do not believe in giving that level of misogyny any more air than what it received then. While gender quotas are key to addressing female participation, unless we also address those systematic and very illogical issues, essentially, what we are doing is wallpapering over a crack in the foundation. The reality is that in 2021 many women are expected to work as if they do not have children but they are expected to parent as if they do not have careers. It is simply not possible to do that, nor should it ever be possible or something to which a woman wants to aspire.

The Government had a real opportunity to take a very significant step towards the publicly funded model of childcare for which the assembly has called, one that genuinely cuts the cost for parents, opens doors for working families and values the staff who are there, but the Minister did not take it. I find that extremely disappointing. When we talk about investing in childcare and about that percentage of GDP, what we are talking about is not a cost but an investment. The return on that investment is the future of this State and the future of our youngest citizens.

Regarding the changes recommended to the articles of the Constitution, I find the term "woman in the home" incredibly insulting for a number of reasons. Not only is it an outdated term but it fails to recognise the key role men play in their children’s lives, in their development and that important bond between father and child. It fails to reflect what is a family here.

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I want to touch on the gender pay gap in the rest of the time I have. That 14% difference between what women and men earn represents women working for free from the beginning of November to the remainder of the year. If two individuals have the same qualifications and experience and are doing the same job then this should be called out for what it is; discrimination. It would not be tolerated if it was anything other than gender but for some reason we tolerate it and it has been allowed to continue. That needs to stop now. Planning for the next 15 to 20 years is well and good but it needs to be quicker and it needs to happen now.

Will the Government give urgent attention to what this Citizens' Assembly is calling for, that is, putting a Cabinet Minister or the Taoiseach in charge of this? Without that genuine and co-ordinated approach to each of these issues we will be having the same conversation the next time the Citizens' Assembly reports. That will fail women, young girls and those of us in this Parliament who are completely underrepresented as women.

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