Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to talk on this important subject. It goes without saying that no matter what one's gender we should all be equal and everybody should respect each other. I admit that I am troubled when people take umbrage to words that are used, not in any way to be derogatory or hurtful to anybody. These words could be complimenting a person but they could be taken out of context. We have seen people getting up on their high horses about something that is nothing. What do I mean by that? I will give an example. We have a newspaper in County Kerry called The Kerryman. A senior person in politics came out and said it should not be called The Kerrymanbut that it should be "The Kerry Paper" or "The Person's Paper". I came back and said that we have manholes on the road and that we should not be calling them manholes, rather we should be calling them "person's holes" in the road in case we would be insulting anybody. There is a borderline between being correct and having manners in dealing with people on the one hand and then being off the wall and crazy on the other hand.

I took great notice of another thing this evening. I listened carefully to every Member who spoke and it struck a strong chord with me that Members stood up and spoke eloquently about gender equality and people having their manners and their P's and Q's. I do not know whether I did something to step on their toes but some of these people are the very ones who when you pass them in the corridor and bid them the time of day they will look up at the sky, at their shoes or everywhere but the last thing they would do is look at you and say "Hello". It is a bit like "D'Unbelievables"; if they can hear me talking now maybe they will look into their faces in the mirror the next time and think about the way they treat people. Some of them treat other people in a way that leaves an awful lot to be desired and a lot of the people who are professing about gender equality do not have the manners of a scalded cat. I mean that; they are totally disrespectful to their colleagues because they would pass them in the corridor in that manner. I do not care who you are or what you are; if a person says "Hello" to you the least you can do is say "Hello" back. They know who they are and it is up to them. They do not carry the night's sleep in me at all because I could not give a damn about them. I am just saying it is ironic to hear people being so hypocritical in talking about gender equality when they would not even say "Hello" back to a colleague when walking around these premises or anywhere else inside or outside of this place.

A lot of people have different issues and personal experiences of gender inequality. The members of the Citizens' Assembly considered factual information and different perspectives on a broad range of topics related to gender equality and they then developed and voted on its priority recommendations . I want to compliment them for the work they did and the time and deliberations they gave because they were working for all of us when they were dealing with this important issue. We have to look at the recommendations they have made and at what their implementation and delivery would be like. We have to examine how that would work because it is important that when people do a job, come to a conclusion and make recommendations we are mindful in our deliberations and give them careful consideration to ensure that we arrive at conclusions that are for the betterment of all.

At the end of all of this I would like to see a situation where, if the Constitution is to amended, it would explicitly refer to gender equality and non-discrimination. If any changes are being made, they should be made for the betterment and equality of everybody. We should not allow ourselves to get silly either, as in the example I gave a while ago of some people going off the rails. The Minister and the Members who spoke earlier on should always remember that it costs nothing in this world to be nice. It does not cost a penny.

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