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

I wish everybody in the Oireachtas a happy International Women's Day. I will use my time to highlight some of the areas in which we need to continue to make real progress for women.

In recent years, we have delivered significant improvements in our country's approach to women's healthcare. The repeal of the eighth amendment, for example, was a momentous achievement for all of those who campaigned tirelessly and for so long to achieve it. Unfortunately, the legislation is not providing the access that many hoped it would. I have heard heartbreaking stories of parents being told their baby has a fatal foetal anomaly, rather than abnormality, and limited chance of making it to full term, never mind surviving outside the womb. These parents cannot legally be offered a termination in Ireland. In 2020, in fact, one out of three women who travelled to the UK for an abortion were seeking a termination due to a fatal foetal anomaly. When Ireland voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment, this is not what we expected or intended. I add my voice to the calls for a timely and practical review of the legislation to ensure it is serving the women of Ireland adequately.

We know there are still counties with no abortion services and that needs to be addressed. We know that part of the reservation for many GPs in providing a service may come from not wanting to attract protests and intimidation from anti-choice groups. I have raised the issue of safe access zones before in this House and I again call on the Minister to enact legislation quickly that will protect women, couples and healthcare professionals from these cruel acts of intimidation. Not only are protests are happening on a regular basis outside GP clinics and hospitals providing abortion services, but also we are now seeing anti-abortion advertising outside these healthcare settings. It is really important that a ban on such abhorrent advertisements is included in our safe access zone legislation.

In 2019, the women's health task force recommended that we improve supports for women experiencing menopause. Last year, we saw the establishment of the country's first specialist menopause clinic in Dublin, which is very welcome. Three more clinics are on the way and I have called on the Minister to work to deliver them as soon as possible. The Menopause Hub reports that 22% of women experiencing moderate to severe menopause symptoms have missed three or more days of work and 85% of them felt they could not tell their employers the real reason for that time off work. Almost half of these women have considered giving up work because their symptoms are so severe. Many organisations are beginning to recognise the challenges of menopause for women and are doing more to educate their managers and broader workforce. It would be great to see more employers designing organisational policies on the menopause as well as delivering menopause training for management and human relations staff to increase awareness of these issues in the workplace. Women's healthcare does not begin and end at family planning. It is multifaceted. I hope we will continue to see further development in the area of menopause support.

We often look to New Zealand as an example of progressive and inclusive leadership. Its approach to miscarriage leave is one I would like to see replicated in Ireland. A number of colleagues, including Deputy Carroll MacNeill and Senator Seery Kearney, and I have been advocating for statutory miscarriage leave to be introduced to provide women with the necessary support in the event of early pregnancy loss. Sadly, one in very five pregnancies is lost in the early stages. The trauma of early pregnancy loss needs to be addressed. Women should be supported in taking the necessary time to heal, both physically and emotionally.

The role of women in business is an issue that is really important to me. I came to the Dáil from the corporate world , where I saw at first hand the impact strong female role models can have in a company. That is why I was delighted to bring the Irish Corporate Governance (Gender Balance) Bill before the Dáil last year. It will legislate for gender quotas at a boardroom level and require all company boards to comprise at least 40% female membership within three years. Ireland is making progress in the representation of women in the boardroom and I welcome the further progress announced today. However, that progress simply is not happening quickly enough. Balanced boardrooms are proven to make better decisions, yet we still have five listed companies in Ireland without a single woman on their governing board. In 2022, that simply is not good enough.

I welcome the significant progress the Government is making on tackling the gender pay gap. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act was signed into law last year and will require organisations to report on pay differences between male and female employees. I urge State bodies and other organisations not to wait for the law to come into force but to start gathering that information now. We have seen An Post lead the way on this.

Unfortunately, it is well documented that women and children suffer disproportionately in times of war. They are viewed as safe targets, deprived of their human rights and may become victims of trafficking or sexual abuse. On International Women's Day, with everything that is happening in Ukraine, it is a time for us to have those women and children in our thoughts, prayers and actions. It is very good news that we will be welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians to our shores in the coming weeks.

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